Study of the head of an apostle

The Dutch provenance of this hitherto unpublished picture affirms the hypothesis that it was painted during Pelligrini's sejourn of circa a year in The Netherlands. After a stay in Antwerpen the artist travelled to The Hague where he became a member of the Painters' Guild in The Hague on 13 May 1718. The best paintings known paintings from this period were the decorations in the 'Golden Room' of the Mauritshuis in The Hague consisting of a three part ceiling, two overmantels (one signed 'Aug 26 1718 Pellegrini F') and four grisaille wall canvases (see G. Knox, Antonio Pellegrini 1675-1741, Oxford, 1995, pp. 137-145, figs. 111-14; B. Aikema and E. Mijnlieff, 'Giovanni Antonio Pellegrini in the Low Countries, 1716-18', Nederlands Kunsthistorisch Jaarboek, 1993, pp. 215-242).

Not only the style of the prestent picture shows great similarities to the overmantels in the Mauritshuis, but also the shaped top which suggests that it was probably intended as an overmantle.