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Lot Essay
The late Stephen Pepper confirmed the attribution of the present drawing in a letter to its previous owner. Dr. Pepper wrote that 'this impressive drawing of an old man is a major work by Guido Reni certainly executed in the decade of the 1620s'.
Dr. Pepper pointed out that the old chalk inscription on the mount suggested a connection with a figure in the picture of La disputà, acquired by Edward Harley, 2nd Earl of Orford (1689-1741), which represents old men discussing the scriptures. The picture is now in the Hermitage, Saint Petersburg, D.S. Pepper, Guido Reni, l'opera completa, Novara, 1988, no. 87, pl. 80.
This drawing reached England early: its first known owner was Nicola Francesco Haym, a Rome-born German musician who moved to England in 1704 and died in 1729. His entire collection was probably acquired by John Spencer (1708-1746). Another drawing by Guido, from the Normand Collection, sold in these Rooms on 6 July 1999, lot 104, shared the same provenance. The Spencer Collection was dispersed in 1811, and included another large drawing by Guido, V. Birke, Guido Reni Zeichnungen, exhib. cat., Vienna, Graphische Sammlung Albertina, 1981, no. 97.
Dr. Pepper pointed out that the old chalk inscription on the mount suggested a connection with a figure in the picture of La disputà, acquired by Edward Harley, 2nd Earl of Orford (1689-1741), which represents old men discussing the scriptures. The picture is now in the Hermitage, Saint Petersburg, D.S. Pepper, Guido Reni, l'opera completa, Novara, 1988, no. 87, pl. 80.
This drawing reached England early: its first known owner was Nicola Francesco Haym, a Rome-born German musician who moved to England in 1704 and died in 1729. His entire collection was probably acquired by John Spencer (1708-1746). Another drawing by Guido, from the Normand Collection, sold in these Rooms on 6 July 1999, lot 104, shared the same provenance. The Spencer Collection was dispersed in 1811, and included another large drawing by Guido, V. Birke, Guido Reni Zeichnungen, exhib. cat., Vienna, Graphische Sammlung Albertina, 1981, no. 97.