INSPIRATION OF THE PAST 'The scale drawings of buildings was a very important part of an architect's training at the time, it was essential that he should be familiar with all past styles and be able to draw them out in fine pen line for examinations, competitions, as well as for his own benefit. My grandfather's extraordinary knowledge of London churches and public buildings was certainly learned in this way, the hard way, early rising, a lot of work with a tape measure, a stout note-book and a good eye. One day, determined to get a close view of some stonework in the Temple, he had gone over to the gateway at dawn and clambered up the front of the façade with nothing heavier than a rule and a stub of pencil. He was just completing the work, when a window was raised to reveal an elderly lawyer's head encased in a night cap and holding a blunderbuss. 'Get down at once!' shouted the old man. My grandfather hanging suspended between string course and cornice found the weapon being poked right at him. 'No!' he shouted back defiantly, looking straight down the barrel, 'Not until I have measured this splendid cartouche!' S. Houfe, The Professor

Donato Creti (Cremona 1671-1749 Bologna)

Study of a woman

Details

Donato Creti (Cremona 1671-1749 Bologna)
Study of a woman
with inscription on backing sheet by Horace Walpole 'Donato Creti'
pen and brown ink, oval
4 x 3 in. (10.3 x 7.3 cm.)

Provenance

Horace Walpole, Strawberry Hill, Middlesex.

Exhibited

Twickenham, Orleans House Gallery, Horace Walpole and Strawberry Hill, 1981, no. 200.

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Lot Essay

This appears to be a drawing from Creti's mature period, probably dating from around 1708 and comparable to three studies from that year in the Università degli Studi, Turin (M. Riccomini, Donato Creti: Le opere su carta, Turin, 2012, nos. 87.1, .2 and .3).

We are grateful to Marco Riccomini for confirming the attribution on the basis of a photograph.

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