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Lot Essay
A preparatory study for one of the Figurine series, perhaps the most famous and widely copied of Rosa's etchings. The small format series depicted soldiers and male and female genre figures, and was quickly exploited as a source of staffage by later painters. The series was in preparation in 1656-57, and was dedicated to Carlo de'Rossi, a Roman banker, avid collector and close friend of the artist. A variant of the present drawing, omitting the soldier to the right, carries the partly erased inscription 'Salvator Rosa .. has .. Carolo Ru[beo]' on the block to the left, suggesting that the composition may have been planned as a frontispiece (formerly Odescalchi Collection; M. Mahoney, op. cit., no. 45.10).
This drawing was one of nine by Rosa purchased in Rome in 1714-18 by Thomas Coke, 1st Earl of Leicester (1697-1759). During his extended Grand Tour, Coke gathered an astonishing collection of sculpture, paintings and drawings, by both the most important contemporary artists such as Carlo Maratta and by earlier masters. The inclusion of artists such as Salvator Rosa and Claude is an early indication of their great popularity among 18th Century British connoisseurs. Many of Coke's drawings were mounted while he was in Italy, but the process continued on his return to England. In 1720 the Huguenot Thomas Pelletier, from a family of frame carvers and gilders, was paid for 'pasting' 68 drawings. A number of drawings from Holkham, including the present work, bear an attribution on the characteristic washed mounts in a large cursive script. The use of French spellings for these suggests they might be by Pelletier himself.
This drawing was one of nine by Rosa purchased in Rome in 1714-18 by Thomas Coke, 1st Earl of Leicester (1697-1759). During his extended Grand Tour, Coke gathered an astonishing collection of sculpture, paintings and drawings, by both the most important contemporary artists such as Carlo Maratta and by earlier masters. The inclusion of artists such as Salvator Rosa and Claude is an early indication of their great popularity among 18th Century British connoisseurs. Many of Coke's drawings were mounted while he was in Italy, but the process continued on his return to England. In 1720 the Huguenot Thomas Pelletier, from a family of frame carvers and gilders, was paid for 'pasting' 68 drawings. A number of drawings from Holkham, including the present work, bear an attribution on the characteristic washed mounts in a large cursive script. The use of French spellings for these suggests they might be by Pelletier himself.