The Immaculate Conception

Traditionally attributed to Carlo Maratti, this sheet was identified by Ann Sutherland Harris as Sacchi's preparatory drawing for an altarpiece of the Immaculate Conception, painted in 1651 for the Oratorio del Buon Gesù in Foligno and destroyed by allied bombing on 16 May 1944 (see lit.). As shown from a modest copy (fig. 1), the newly identified drawing fits the design for the lost work, with the Virgin standing, the two cherubim beneath and two putti on the left side. Its technique, with bold ink contours over red chalk, appears unusual for Sacchi and it has been proposed that it could have been made in preparation for a print (see lit.). This can be also argued from the traces of black chalk powder still visible on the recto, although these could relate to the later tracing by James Basire, who reproduced the drawing in 1778 when it was in the collection of Nathaniel Hillier. The present sheet widens the spectrum of Sacchi's draftsmanship and his influence over the young Carlo Maratti.

Fig. 1. Anonymous after Andrea Sacchi, Immaculate Conception, private collection, Foligno.