Lot Essay
This is a study for the larger, more finished drawing in pen and wash with touches of white chalk, 14 1/8 x 10¾in., inscribed 'The Debut of Paginini [sic.]/Harmonics & Seul Corde/sketched at Opera House' in the Victoria and Albert Museum (illustrated in the 1972 exhibition catalogue, p.41, no.35). Paganini (1784-1840), the famous virtuoso violinist, paid his first visit to England in 1831, making his début at the King's Theatre, London, on 3 June. Maclise's finished drawing seems to have been the basis of a lithograph, published by T. McLean as 'The Modern Orpheus', and also of another lithographed variant of this.
In the present sketch Paganini is shown with a separate study of his hand and, behind this, the conductor is shown seated at a piano, with a cellist and a double-bass player, forming the continuo for the full orchestra shown in the more finished drawing.
In the present sketch Paganini is shown with a separate study of his hand and, behind this, the conductor is shown seated at a piano, with a cellist and a double-bass player, forming the continuo for the full orchestra shown in the more finished drawing.