Giuseppe Passeri (Rome 1654-1714)

Similarly shaped drawings showing ceiling designs with The Coronation of the Virgin and The Assumption of the Virgin, of similar size to the present drawing, were sold at Christie's, Paris, 16 December 2005, lot 33, and formerly in the collection of Sir Brinsley Ford (Y. Tan Bunzl, Italian 17th Century Drawings from British Private Collections, Edinburgh, Merchants' Hall, 1972, no. 86). Both of these drawings are in the lobed shape found in the present drawing, and this, together with the extremely similar subjects, dimensions and media, suggest that they may be alternative plans for a chapel dedicated to the Virgin.