A caricature of a monk

Details

Pier Leone Ghezzi (Rome 1674-1755)
A caricature of a monk
with inscription ‘Le P Duillié Procureur General/ des Carmes’ (verso)
pen and brown ink
10 5/8 x 7 ¼ in. (27.1 x 18.3 cm)

Provenance

Anonymous sale; Gutekunst und Klipstein, Bern, 28 May 1953, part of lot 114, where acquired by Robert Landolt.

Special notice

This lot is offered without reserve. These lots have been imported from outside the EU or, if the UK has withdrawn from the EU without an agreed transition deal, from outside of the UK for sale and placed under the Temporary Admission regime. Import VAT is payable at 5% on the hammer price. VAT at 20% will be added to the buyer’s premium but will not be shown separately on our invoice.

Brought to you by

Stijn Alsteens

salsteens@christies.com +33 1 40 76 83 59

Lot Essay

Ghezzi is best known for his witty caricatures of aristocrats, clergy and artists which he sold during his lifetime. Three albums containing such drawings passed down to his widow and were later owned by King Carlos III of Spain and the 1st Duke of Wellington, and by descent to the 7th Duke of Wellington, until they were sold in 1971. Two of the albums have now been broken up and dispersed, examples from which can be found, for example, in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (see J. Bean and W. Griswold, 18th Century Italian Drawings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1990, nos. 68-71, ill.), while an album containing 64 caricatures is in the Morgan Library and Museum, New York (inv. 1978.27).

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