Lombard School, first quarter 17th Century

Esther before Ahasuerus (recto); A reclining figure surrounded by children (verso)

Details

Lombard School, first quarter 17th Century
Esther before Ahasuerus (recto); A reclining figure surrounded by children (verso)
with inscriptions 'Giovanni Batista nuolone Pitore', '...Ducatus Mediolani, qui vidimus comparationem, et petitionem, coram nobis factam [in] qua petijt se aggregari, et describi in numero, et caetu (?) Agrimensorum publicorum/...torum Jo. Batistam Pissinam, et Franciscum Mariam Richinum omnes examin [...] ...e edoctum, expertum, et idoneum in arte ipsa Agrimensorem praefatae civitatis, et Ducatus Mediolani... preheminentijs, prorogativis, emolumentis, utilitatibus, et commoditatibus dictae /...legitime percipi et haberi solitis. Mandamusque quibusquamque d'offito subditis caeter [...] favoribus, et auxilijs prosequantur. In quorum fidem presents fieri, et sigillo praefat[ae]/... 1626' and 'Rafaello' (verso)
black chalk, pen and brown ink, brown wash (recto); pen and brown ink (verso)
7 x 8¾ in. (178 x 222 mm.)

Provenance

Anonymous sale; Christie's, London, 6 July 1999, lot 37.

Lot Essay

This drawing appears to be by the same hand as one that was with Katrin Bellenger (Italian Drawings 1500-1800, Munich, 1999, no. 13). Nancy Ward Neilson attributed it to Giovanni Battista Crespi, il Cerano ('Review: Il Seicento lombardo. Catalogo dei disegni, libri e stampi', Master Drawings, 1974, XII, pp. 58-9) and Giulio Bora suggested an attribution to the brothers Lampugnani ('Due secoli d'arte a Milano: La pittura', Santa Maria della Passione e il Conservatorio Giuseppe Verdi a Milano, Milan, 1981, pp. 150, 154, fig. 203).
An inscription on the verso might refer to a member of the Nuvolone family of Lombard artists, and the extensive Latin inscription relates to a petition for surveyors for the Duchy of Milan in 1626.

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