The Death of Saint Francis, after Annibale Carracci

This drawing, in black chalk softly stumped technique, reveals Aureliano Milani’s skill as a draughtsman. In his works the artist often re-interpreted inventions of the great masters of the Bolognese school of the 17th Century, Ludovico and Annibale Carracci in particular. The present composition derives from a painting by Annibale of 1597-1598, known only through an engraving by Gérard Audran (D. Posner, Annibale Carracci. A Study in the Reform of Italian Painting around 1590, II, p. 44, no. 101, pl.101; Annibale Carracci e i suoi incisori, exhib. cat., Rome, Instituto Nazionale per la Grafica,1986, no. 35, ill.). This drawing can be compared with other sheets by Milani executed in a similar technique, such as the Virgin and Child with Saint John the Baptist in the Budapest (inv. 1951-6412; see A. Czére, Disegni di artisti bolognesei nel Museo delle Belle Arti di Budapest, Bologna, Collezioni di Arte e Storia della Cassa di Risparmio di Bologna, 1989, pp. 150-151).