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Lot Essay
Drawn with particularly fine pen work and subtly applied wash, this sheet is a prime example of Cades's more finished Neo-classical drawing in contrast from his more free and fluid drawings. The figure of the Virgin appears to reflect the influence of Michelangelo's work; it is particularly close to the master's Mourning woman in the J. Paul Getty Museum (inv. 2017.78; C. Bambach et al. Michelangelo. Divine Draftsman and Designer, exh. cat., New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2017, no. 26, ill.). A large, stylistically similar drawing, The Virgin Immaculate with the Christ Child, datable to the late 1780s, is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (inv. 1970.113.12; M. T. Caracciolo, Giuseppe Cades 1750-1799 et la Rome de son temps, Paris, 1992, no. 151A, ill.).
Maria Teresa Caracciolo confirmed the attribution to Giuseppe Cades at the time of the 2018 sale.
The present sheet was one of six drawings by Giuseppe Cades in the collection of the 19th century antiquary and architectural historian Matthew Holbeche Bloxam (1805-1888), of Rugby in Warwickshire. Each of the Cades drawings in the Bloxam collection were laid down on identical mounts, and it has been suggested that they may have been acquired together as a group, possibly from the artist’s studio estate or from one of his descendants. Like his father before him, Bloxam had studied at Rugby School, of which he remained a devoted supporter throughout his life. When the school’s Art Museum opened in 1879, Bloxam began donating individual drawings from his collection to the museum on a yearly basis, often on his birthday.
Maria Teresa Caracciolo confirmed the attribution to Giuseppe Cades at the time of the 2018 sale.
The present sheet was one of six drawings by Giuseppe Cades in the collection of the 19th century antiquary and architectural historian Matthew Holbeche Bloxam (1805-1888), of Rugby in Warwickshire. Each of the Cades drawings in the Bloxam collection were laid down on identical mounts, and it has been suggested that they may have been acquired together as a group, possibly from the artist’s studio estate or from one of his descendants. Like his father before him, Bloxam had studied at Rugby School, of which he remained a devoted supporter throughout his life. When the school’s Art Museum opened in 1879, Bloxam began donating individual drawings from his collection to the museum on a yearly basis, often on his birthday.