Circle of Giovanni Bellini (1430-1516)

Study for a Bishop Saint holding the Model of a Church; and a Study for a Bishop Saint

Details

Circle of Giovanni Bellini (1430-1516)
Study for a Bishop Saint holding the Model of a Church; and a Study for a Bishop Saint
black chalk, pen and brown ink, the upper edge made up (1)
each 4 x 2 in. (100 x 50 mm.) a pair (2)

Provenance

C. Gasc (L. 543).
C. Molinier (L. 2917).
André de Hevesy.
Anon. sale; Christie's, 20 March 1966, lot 104.
P.& D. Colnaghi, Old Master and English Drawings, 1969 nos. 1 and 3. Denys Sutton, London, and thence by descent to the present owner.

Literature

H. Tietze and E. Tietze-Conrat, The Drawings of the Venetian Painters, New York, 1970, nos. 350-1, pl. XXXIV.

Lot Essay

The Tietzes and Dussler all rejected a previous attribution to Sebastiano del Piombo and placed the drawings closer to the style of Giovanni Bellini. The Tietzes notice a resemblance to the saint in a picture from the Johnson collection attributed by Berenson to Girolamo da Santa Croce.