Sigismondo Caula (Modena 1637-after 1713)

The style and technique of this drawing are typical of a considerable number of drapery and figure studies by Caula. One such drawing with almost identical provenance is in the Fondation Custodia in Paris (J. Byam Shaw, The Italian Drawings of the Frits Lugt Collection, Paris, 1983, no. 405, pls. 456-7). James Byam Shaw also mentions five other drawings by the artist executed in this technique, originally in the collection of Benno Geiger (Sotheby's, London, 7-10 December 1920, lots 74-5; Benno Geiger, Handzeichnungen Alter Meister, Vienna, 1946, pls. 58-91). One of these went to the British Museum (inv. 1920-12-20-1). Another of the five was formerly with P.&D. Colnaghi, London, in 1951, and two were with Paul Prouté, Paris, in 1981. Other similar figure studies by the artist are in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York and the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-Arts, Paris (J. Bean, 17th Century Italian Drawings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1979, no. 129).