Old Masters Figurative Drawings and Watercolors

Salvatore Rosa (Naples 1615 - 1673 Rome) Saint Francis of Assisi in Ecstasy Pen and brown ink, brown wash over black chalk, on paper 7 x 5 cm Bears the stamps of collections on the...

We would like to thank Juliette Parmentier-Courreau of the Custodia Foundation for her welcome and support during the consultation of Glomy’s Journal des Ouvrages. This spectacularly large "feuille de desseins ajustés" commissioned by François Boucher from Jean-Baptiste Glomy is emblematic of the painter's art and mastery of rocaille. It is also fully representative of the taste of this period in the field of decorative arts. The largest of these three drawings, placed at the bottom of the composition, is particularly interesting: dating from around 1756, it constitutes a modello (apparently unpublished) for the frontispiece of the "Catalogue des tableaux de Monsieur de Julienne"), preserved in the Morgan Library in New York. 1. François Boucher, the master of French rocaille The extraordinary career of Francois Boucher was unmatched by his contemporaries in versatility, consistency and output. For many, particularly the writers and collectors who led the revival of interest in the French rococo during the last century, his sensuous beauties and plump cupids represent the French eighteenth century at its most typical. His facility with the brush, even when betraying the occasional superficiality of his art, enabled him to master every aspect of painting – history and mythology, portraiture, landscape, ordinary life and, as part of larger compositions, even still life. He had been trained as an engraver, and the skills of a draftsman, which he imbued in the studio of Jean-Francois Cars (1661 – 1738), stood him in good stead throughout his career; his delightful drawings are one of the most sought-after aspects of his oeuvre. As a student of Francois Lemoyne (1688 - 1737), he mastered the art of composition. The four years he spent in Italy, from 1727-1731, educated him in the works of the masters, classics and history, that his modest upbringing had denied him. On his return to Paris in 1734, he gained full membership of the Royal Academy of Painting and Sculpture with his splendid Rinaldo and Armida (Paris, Musée du Louvre). Although, throughout his career, he occasionally painted subjects taken from the Bible, and would always have considered himself first as a history painter, his own repertoire of heroines, seductresses, flirtatious peasant girls and erotic beauties was better suited to a lighter, more decorative subject matter. His mastery of technique and composition enabled him to move from large scale tapestry...

Jean-Henri Cless (1774-1812) Portrait of a young woman in a landscape signed "Cless fec" for fecit on the lower left Brown ink and brown ink wash on paper Size of the sheet : 31.5 x 22 cm Size of the motive : 24.5 x 17 cm very simply framed under glass without actual frame 32 x 22.5 cm This pre...

France circa 1770 Two lovers surprised in bed Black chalk on paper 13 x 17 cm Modern frame : 34 x 38 cm This drawing had been attributed to Gabriel de Saint Aubin (1724-1780). It's...

JEAN-BAPTISTE GREUZE (Tournus 1725 - 1805 Paris) The Death of Coresus, circa 1750 Pen and brown ink, black ink tips, gray wash on black chalk, 455 x 385 cm Bears on the reverse in ...

FRANÇOIS MATHURIN ADALBERT, BARON DE COURCY (1805-1839) 'Le Negrito à l’ancre. Dans le port de la havanne' Indistinctly signed lower left Titled on the mount Pencil and watercolour, heightened with white, on paper, 24.8 x 34.6 cm Literature: The present watercolour will be illustrated in: - Prof. Manuel Garcia’s projected book on the disease and the slave trade provisionally titled “Fighting the Yellow Demon of Fever: The Struggle against Disease in the Illegal Slave Trade”. - Prof. Micael Zeuske’s forthcoming Global history of slave trade. Exhibited: Mexico City, 1998, Palacio Virreinal, El Barón de Courcy, illustrationes de un viaje, 1831-1833, no. 108 Note: Baron de Courcy was in the Caribbean in late 1832 and early 1833, following his tour of Mexico in 1832, on the last leg of his “Grand Voyage...

Jean-Robert ANGO (Active 1759 – 1773) Man on Horseback Abducting a Woman Red chalk and white chalk 26.1 x 25.9 cm Provenance Libert-Castor sale, November 19, 1993 (lot no. 23, ill...

Collections: Sir Thomas Lawrence, who acquired the contents of Fuseli’s studio; Susan, Countess of Guilford, née Coutts (1771-1837), acquired from the Lawrence estate; Susan, Baroness North (1797-1884), daughter of the above; Mrs A. M. Jaffé, acquired in France, c. 1950 to 2016. Black chalks, on buff-coloured paper Stamped verso: ‘Baroness Norths Collection / of Drawings by H Fuseli Esq.’ Framed dimensions: 26.38 x 20.63 inches This boldly drawn sheet depicting a seated figure was made by Fuseli at an important and highly productive moment in his career. The monumental drawing is closely related to another sheet by Fuseli in the British Museum which Schiff published as subject unknown. Both drawings were made when Fuseli was designing his most important sequence of historical works, including scenes from Shakespeare and Milton, The Nightmare and The Death of Dido which was exhibited at the Royal Academy to great critical acclaim in 1781. The present drawing does not relate directly to any of Fuseli’s finished historical paintings of the period, but evidently the image of a slightly menacing, seated and covered old woman was precisely the sort of motif he was playing with. It is notable that the same figure reappears later in Fuseli’s work as the witch from Ben Jonson’s Witch’s Song which Fuseli produced as both a painting and engraving in 1812. Fuseli returned to London in 1779 from a highly creative and productive period in Rome and established himself as one of the leading history painters of the period. Fuseli re-established contact with his old mentor Sir Joshua Reynolds, becoming a regular guest at his dinner table and visitor to his studio. The earliest and most striking manifestation of this strategy was Fuseli's Death of Dido, exhibited in 1781 at the Royal Academy. Executed on the same scale as Reynolds's version (Royal Collection), Fuseli's vertically oriented picture was hung directly opposite Reynolds's with its horizontal orientation, inevitably inviting comparison between the two works and garnering Fuseli much publicity and favourable reviews in the newspapers. The present, previously unpublished sheet, relates closely to a drawing now in the British Museum. That sheet shows the same seated old woman, drawn on a smaller scale and more schematic in design, seated next to an anatomical drawing of a man. The pose of this figure is related to the pose of Dido in his Death of Dido; the foreshortened torso, arrangement of head, oblique view of Dido’s features and arms all suggest that the study can be viewed as an initial thought for the composition. Fuseli may have initially thought of including the figure of the hunched and covered old woman. Drawn on identical paper to the British Museum sheet, our study is an enlarged depiction of the same figure, more elaborately delineated and developed. The presence of a chain to the right of the figure, suggests that the iconography was related in some way to a scene of imprisonment. Fuseli had first explored the motif of the hooded old woman in an early Roman drawing, 'The Venus Seller'. The idea of a grotesque old woman, hooded and with angular nose and projecting chin seen in profile was most spectacularly used by Fuseli in his sequence of paintings depicting The Three Witches from Macbeth. Fuseli seems to have kept the present sheet and may have returned to it when preparing a painting of The Witch and the Mandrake from Ben Jonson’s Witch’s Song from his Masque of Queens in 1812. Here the same seated figure looks out from under her hood and picks a mandrake by moonlight. Jonson’s drama had been performed at the court of James I in 1609, inspired the subject. To throw the nobility of the queens into relief, the poet added a coven of witches, one of whom declares: ‘I last night lay all alone, On the ground, to hear the mandrake groan; And plucked him up, though he grew full low, And, as I had done, the cock did crow.’ The figure was reversed in the associated etching which was published in 1812. It seems likely that the present drawing remained as part of Fuseli’s working archive of figure studies. The present drawing was presumably purchased with the bulk of Fuseli’s drawings after the artist’s death by Sir Thomas Lawrence. Lawrence’s large group of Fuseli drawings were then acquired by Susan, Countess of Guildford (1771-1837). Lady Guildford was the eldest daughter of the banker Thomas Coutts (1735-1822), who himself had supported Fuseli’s journey to Rome in the 1770s and had remained one of the artist’s key...

This spectacular red chalk drawing depicts an elderly woman, her eyes bulging, her hand stretched out towards the sky. This disturbing character, who seems close to dementia, and the elongation of her arm with its Mannerist overtones, plunge us into the Florentine artistic milieu of the first half of the 17th century. The proximity of this drawing to some characters in the fresco in the Pitti Palace representing The Muses, Poets and Philosophers chased from Parnassus, the last masterpiece of Giovanni da San Giovanni, leads us to propose an attribution to this artist and a dating of around 1635-1636. 1. Giovanni da San Giovanni, the painter of contradiction We take here the title of the monography dedicated to the artist by Anna Banti in 1977, which remains the reference book for this artist. The son of a notary, Giovanni Mannozzi, known as Giovanni da San Giovanni, abandoned his studies to go to Florence at the age of sixteen, where he entered the studio of Matteo Rosselli (1578 - 1650) around 1609 and enrolled in the Academy of Drawing Arts in 1612. Around 1615 he produced his first known works, mainly frescoes for the city's tabernacles. He became famous in Florence for his originality, combining an obsessive application to the study of drawing and the reading of poetry and history with a disheveled appearance. Between 1619 and 1620 he decorated the facade of the Antella Palace in Piazza Santa Croce, a decoration that still partly survives today. The death of Cosimo II in 1621 put an end to the Florentine building activity and Giovanni da San Giovanni left for Rome to find other sponsors with the painter Francesco Furini...

This finely executed drawing in pen and wash is typical of the work of Leonaert Bramer, one of the most fascinating yet little-known artists of 17th-century Holland. In a nocturnal ...

Studio of Carlo Maratti (or Maratta) Camerano 1625 – Rome 1713 Studies of a kneeling female figure, an arm, a hand, and a head in profile Red chalk on paper 43.4 x 26.6 cm Provena...

Inscribed: 3. una Madonna che va in Egitto, verso, and Madonna che va in Egitto, recto Provenance: Private Collection, UK, since 1999 This expressive and boldly executed drawing is the work of Luca...

Black crayon and graphite with white heightening on blue handmade laid paper. Adhered at all four corners to a period support, on which the title and an illegible date (perhaps 1815) appear to be written in the artist's hand. ________ Aglio was born in Cremona is 1777 and his artistic talent was recognized early in his life. He was promised a place at the University in Milan by the Holy Roman Emperor, however, his formal education was upended before it even began by the invasion of Italy and Austria by Napoleon. Aglio joined the war effort and fought in a series of major battles near Venice before becoming seriously ill. At the age of about 23 he was released from duty, and traveled to Rome to focus on his health, and landscape painting. In Rome, Aglio studied with the renowned artist Campovecchio. At the invitation of well known British architect William Wilkins (designer of the National Gallery and University College London), Aglio relocated to London in 1803. He made London his permanent home, and married Letitia Clarke in 1805. He enjoyed a lucrative career painting frescoes in the interiors of high society townhouses, country manors, and major London concert halls and theaters. Most notably, Aglio painted multiple official portraits of Queen Victoria...

Pietro Fancelli (Italian 1764 - 1850) bio details attached to the frame 'St. Anne & The Virgin' ink with watercolor wash on paper, framed framed: 22 x 16 inches image: 11 x 6.5 inche...

Figure Studies Attriubted to Cornelis Schut (1597 - 1655) Flemish ink drawing on paper, inscribed on mount size: 4.75 x 7 inches private collection, France The painting is in overa...

Provenance: Unidentified collector’s mark “D.G.R,” lower right (Lugt 757b) Wilhelm Suida (1877–1959), New York; by descent to: Robert L. and Bertina Suida Manning, New York, until 1996 Private Collection, USA This impressive drawing of the Assumption of the Virgin is the work of the Genoese artist Giovanni Battista Paggi. The son of a nobleman, Paggi received a humanist education and was a self-taught artist. According to Paggi’s first biographer, Raffaele Soprani, it was only after encountering Luca...

A lively, well executed sketch painted by a 19th century follower of Francesco Guardi Follower of Francesco Guardi, 19th Century Figures by a Roman Arch Watercolour with ink and sc...

Pen and ink, ink wash and pencil on paper, signed and dated (lower right), 38cm x 29cm (65cm x 55cm framed). This penetrating and wonderfully executed self-portrait, is all the mor...

This widely referenced pair of paintings is one of Francesco Conti’s most successful productions. Francesco Conti is one of the finest painters of 18th-century Florence. In the shimmering colors typical of his best work, he represents two opposite characters from the Bible: the virtuous Judith, whose courage saves her people by cutting off the head of the invader Holofernes, and the depraved Salome, who under the influence of her mother becomes responsible for the beheading of the prophet John the Baptist. The artist's talent lies in his ability to treat these two macabre subjects with a light touch, presenting us with two attractive women who seem to twirl with glee amidst the severed heads... 1. Francesco Conti, the “Florentine Tiepolo” Francesco Conti is a major painter of the Florentine school of the 18th century; he can even probably be considered, along with Giovanni Domenico Ferretti (1692-1768), as one of the two main painters of the second quarter of the Florentine 18th century. Born in Florence in 1682, Francesco Conti began his apprenticeship in the workshop of Simone Pignoni (1611 - 1698), a disciple of Francesco Furini; he was also influenced by the Venetian Sebastiano Ricci. A protégé of Marquis Riccardi, he accompanied him to Rome between 1699 and 1705, where he frequented Carlo Maratta's studio. He settled permanently in Florence in 1705. Painted exclusively on canvas, the majority of his work consists of religious subjects, altarpieces or private devotional works. It is likely that Conti himself was a devout churchgoer, as evidenced by his affiliation, in the third decade of the eighteenth century, to the Society of the Disciples of Saint-John-the-Baptist, and his entry, at the end of his life, into the fraternity of the Venerable Society of the Holy Trinity. In Florence, Conti worked for the Grand Duchy's major patrons, including the last Medici - in particular Giangastone and Annamaria Luisa, Electress Palatine - and confirmed his role as a reference painter under the Lorraine Regency, as master of the Public Drawing School, which was closely linked to the institute responsible for the manufacture of semi-precious stone mosaics, then located in the Uffizi complex. Matteo Marangoni, an art critic of the early 20th century, praised his "brushwork full of elegance and true spirit of the 18th century", pointing out that Conti was "probably one of the best colorists" of the Florentine school of his time. These two characteristics led the art historian Paolo dal Poggetto to nickname him the "Florentine Tiepolo". 2. Judith and Salome, two biblical characters opposing each other These two paintings form a pair presenting two biblical episodes, which have in common the depiction of a "heroine" carrying the severed head of a man. While the Salome episode might at first appear to be an echo of the Old Testament story of Judith, each character is the exact opposite of the other. Judith, whose story is told in the Book of Judith, is a beautiful young widow from Bethulia who, accompanied by her maid, went into the camp of the invading Assyrians and won the confidence of Holofernes, the general commanding the enemy army. Invited to a great feast on the fourth evening, she took advantage of Holofernes' drunkenness to cut off his head. “She went up to the bedpost near Holofernes’ head, and took down his sword that hung there. She came close to his bed, took hold of the hair of his head, and said, “Give me strength today, O Lord God of Israel!” Then she struck his neck twice with all her might, and cut off his head. Next she rolled his body off the bed and pulled down the canopy from the posts. Soon afterward she went out and gave Holofernes’ head to her maid, who placed it in her food bag...

Faithful to the neo-classical taste, sculptor Antoine-Denis Chaudet presents us with a frieze of antique figures executed in gray wash over pencil strokes, which is likely inspired b...

Brownish ink and grayish ink wash with white heightening on handmade cream laid paper, 10 5/8 x 8 1/4 inches (267 x 208 mm)(matrix). Scattered minor losses to top sheet edge (outside...

Charcoal on paper, 60cm x 42cm, (74cm x 60cm framed). The picture is framed behind museum quality non-reflective UV glass. Drawings and paintings of the nude were central to academ...

This rare drawing by Nattier is part of a set of preparatory studies executed in 1717 for one of the painter's first commissions, the painting commissioned by Tsar Peter I of Russia ...

Carle Vernet (French, 1758 – 1836) ‘La Marchande de Coco’; and ‘La Tour de Babbe d’un Charbonnier’ Ink, watercolour on paper Both signed C Vernet and Carle Vernet (lower left and lower right respectively) 12.1/4 x 9 in. (31 x 22.8 cm.) A pair Vernet was born in Bordeaux. At the age of five, he showed an extraordinary passion for drawing horses, but went through the regular academical course as a pupil of his father and of Nicolas-Bernard Lépicié. Strangely, after winning the grand prix (1782), he seemed to lose interest in the profession, and his father had to recall him back from Rome to France to prevent him from entering a monastery. In his Triumph of Aemilius Paulus, he broke with tradition and drew the horse with the forms he had learnt from nature in stables and riding-schools. His hunting-pieces, races, landscapes, and work as a lithographer were also very popular. Carle's sister was executed by the guillotine during the Revolution. After this, he gave up art. When he again began to produce under the French Directory (1795–1799), his style had changed radically. He started drawing in minute detail battles and campaigns to glorify Napoleon. His drawings of Napoleon...

Graphite, ink wash and watercolor on handmade laid paper with a large, indistinguishable ovoid watermark with a bunch of grapes, 8 7/16 x 12 5/8 inches (225 x 320 mm), signed in brown ink in the lower left. With the Henry Scipio Reitlinger oval stamp in brown ink on the verso (Lugt 2274a). The condition of the image and paper is consistent with age, there is minor toning on the recto and some attenuation of the green pigment. The drawing is laid down to an 18th century laid paper support and has a small pencil notation in the lower right corner (modern), and scattered notations in pencil on the verso of the support (also modern, perhaps auction/accession notes). On the paper support is an ink drawing in red and black of what appears to be the floor plan for the wing of a large building. The drawing is top-up, adhered facing the verso of the drawing. The architectural drawing on the support is visible through to the recto of the composition when the sheets are viewed through raking light. There is a small area of stipple point spotting in brown ink on the verso of the support. Examination under black light shows no indication of repairs or additions, expert or otherwise. Provenance: Henry Scipio Reitlinger was born in either 1882 or 1885, attended Kings College...

Watercolour on ivory colored and watermarked paper"J. Whatm Turkey M.", 1820 c.a. Beautiful watercolour representing a typical Italian scene of ordinary life in XIX century: people...

Female figure with child and dog is a sublime original drawing (red chalk drawing on laid paper) by an exponent of the French School of the XVIII century...

Moses Breaking the Tablet of the Law. (after Parmigianino. 1503-1540.) Pencil drawing mounted onto paper. 12 1/4 x 3 3/4 inches. Collector's seal verso: Gustav Grunwald, (Lugt 1155b)...

After the restoration of the Saint-John chapel’s frescoes at the Saint-Severin church in Paris in 2022, the drawing presented here is a moving testimony to their creative process. It...

Beautiful watercolor on ivory-colored paper called Costume di Capracolla, realized by the Italian artist Michela De Vito in 1820 ca. Hand-titled "Costume di Capracolla" with a hand-...

The drawings showcase the beauty of the black women on one hand and also reflect the intimacy animals possess with females, especially horses, and princesses in royalty. They are muc...

Landscape is a beautiful drawing in pencil and watercolor on paper realized by Jan Peter Verdussen in 1745 ca. In good condition, excpet for some foxing on the right. The artwork r...

Attributed to Francesco PENNI (1488 – 1528) Study for a fresco Pen and brown ink, brown wash heightened with white on prepared paper 14 x 12 cm On the mount, handwriting inscriptio...

"Mother & Child" French School, 19th century sanguine chalk drawing on paper, unframed painting: 23.25 x 17.75 inches Condition report: The painting i...

China ink and watercolour on paper. Realized in 1740 ca. Very good conditions. Includes passepartout.

Watercolour. Hand-Numbered "312" lower-right on margin. In very good condition except a little stain on the high left corner. Wonderful Watercolour drawing by Jan Peeter Verdussen, s...

Watercolor on ivory colored paper, 1820 c.a. Hand-titled "Costume di Craco" with a caption "Provincia di Basilicata nel Regno di Napoli" in black ink on lower margin at the center. ...

Costume of Napoli is an original Ink and Watercolour drawing on ivory-colored stuck on paper, 1830 c.a. Signed. Image Dimensions: 24.5 x 15 cm. The original title is written at the...

Gioncataro is an amazing original artwork, watercolour on ivory-colored paper, realized by the talented artist Michela De Vito in 1820 ca. Hand-titled "Gioncataro" in pencil on the ...

Interior of a house is a fine original drawing (China ink and watercolor on paper). Unsigned. This artwork could be attributed to Thomas Stothard. In ...

The Adoration is an original modern artwork realized by Giuseppe Assereto (died in Genoa in 1650) in the first half of the 17th Century. Original Oil Painting on Canvas. A 19th Century style gilded wood frame is included. The Autograph of the work was confirmed by Camillo Manzitti. Very good conditions. The frame is in excellent conditions too. Reference: C. Marcenaro, Pittori genovesi a Genova nel '600 e nel '700, Genova 1969, pp. 134 ; 135, n. 55. Z. Wazbinski, Un Quadro Caravaggesco Di Gioacchino Assereto, in Prospettiva, n. 26, 1981, pp. 60 ; 63. F. R. Pesenti, La Pittura in Liguria. Artisti del primo Seicento, Genova 1986, p. 397, nota 23. A. Gesino, Tracce di Matthias Stom nel collezionismo tra la Sicilia e Genova, in Caravaggio e i genovesi, catalogo della Mostra a cura di A. Orlando, Genova 2019, pp. 182 ; 195. The Adoration is an excellent example of the XVII Century Italian Painting. The style of the work denotes the suggestive influence of Assereto father's mature production, when influenced by Mathias Stom (Amersfoort, about 1600 - Sicily, after 1650) expresses dark sensibilities in a southern Italian style. In his works, however, there is an accentuated naturalism and interesting similarities with the production of Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione. Gioacchino Assereto died in 1650, while, according to Soprani, he was intent on painting a Last Supper for the oratory...

Garden's Flowers is a beautiful artwork realized by Jan Peter Verdussen. In good condition. Not signed. Passepartout included ( 48.8 x 33.8 cm). The artwork represents a Garden's...

China ink and watercolor on paper. Conditions: Two cuts on the centre of the paper. Three holes on centre-right, botton-left and top-left of the paper. Worn on the top left of the ...

Rome is a beautiful artwork realized by Jan Peter Verdussen in 1741. In good condition except for some pencil marks and traces of sealing wax on the back and some diffused foxings. ...

Louis-Félix de La Rue (1730-1777)  The Baptism of Carloman Pen and back ink on paper 13.3 x 16 cm Inscribed in the lower border "Le Pape baptise Carloman, fils ainé de Charlemagne" ...

Galesso di Resina casale is an original gouache drawing on paper realized by Michela De Vito, Naples. Hand-signed and titled, on the bottom center. Good conditions.

China ink and watercolor on paper. Hand dated. Conditions: Foxing on the top right of the paper

Mythological subject is a precious original drawing (black chalk, brush, and watercolor ink on ivory colored paper). Unsigned. Inscription: "Disegnato dal P. e Scotti ricavato da que...

Louis-Félix de La Rue (1730-1777)  A Banquet scene Pen and black ink, brown ink wash on paper Diameter 21 cm In good condition In a modern frame under glass 30 x 30 cm Louis Feli...

Costume of Cajazzo is an original gouache drawing on paper realized by Michela De Vito, Naples. Hand-signed, on the bottom right. Titled on the lower center. Good conditions, exce...

Circle of Nicolas Poussin (French, 1594-1665) Maiden’s harvesting flowers Sanguine on paper 8. ¾ in. (22 cm.) tondo

Costume di Napoli is an original gouache drawing on paper realized by Michela De Vito, Naples. Hand-signed, on the bottom center. Good conditions.

Drink Seller (Venditore di Bibite) is an original gouache drawing on paper realized by Michela De Vito, Naples. Hand-signed on the lower center. Titled on the lower center. The wor...

Louis-Félix de La Rue (1730-1777)  Putti playing around a sculpture, a mythological scene Pen and brown ink on paper 15.4 x 31 cm In good condition The ancient mount has has a smal...

Madonna della Scodella is an original drawing (black pencil, pen and ink on laid paper) by an exponent of the Italian school of the eighteenth century. In excellent conditions: almo...

Chateau fort is an original pencil drawing on paper by Horace Vernet realized in XIX century. Certified by Paul Proutè. Very good conditions, except for a very little rip on the lef...

In a Gothic Church is a beautiful original drawing (China ink and watercolor on paper). Hand-signed "Stothard" in brown ink on the lower left margin outside of the image. Very sweet drawing representing a woman praying...

Tribuna della Basilica Labicana is an original old master artwork realized in 16th century by Giovanna Fontana. IIvory colored paper attached on an ivory colored sheet (cm 27 x 36.7...