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Sketch of man leaning left with arm extended

A man extends his right arm, pointing his index finger. He is positioned in the lower right corner and visible from the chest up, with his lower body and left side suggested to be beyond the edges of the image. His face is mostly in profile as it turns toward his extended finger. The image is rendered in light grayish-brown lines on a pale pink, textured background. The man’s head, arm, and hand are the most shaded and detailed areas of the sketch, while his chest has less shading and detail. There is a black signature in the left corner.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1936.121
People
Giovanni di Pietro, called Lo Spagna, Italian (c. 1450 - 1528)
Previously attributed to (?) Raphael, Italian (Urbino, Italy 1483 - 1520 Rome, Italy)
Title
Study for a Figure of Saint John the Baptist
Classification
Drawings
Work Type
drawing
Date
16th century
Places
Creation Place: Europe, Italy, Umbria
Culture
Italian
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/298708

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Metalpoint on off-white antique laid paper prepared with a pale pink ground
Dimensions
11.2 x 17.7 cm (4 7/16 x 6 15/16 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • inscription: l.l., black ink: Raffael
  • watermark: Unable to see due to the ground layer preparation

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Francesco Conestabile. John Postle Heseltine, London (Lugt 1507). [1] Henry Oppenheimer, London, sold; [Christie's, London, 10, 13-14 July 1936, lot 155, pl. 40] to; [P. & D. Colnaghi & Co., Ltd., London]. The Honorable Mr. and Mrs. Robert Woods Bliss, gift; to Fogg Art Museum, 1936

[1] Lugt notes that Oppenheimer purchased a number of drawings from the Heseltine collection in 1912.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Gift of The Honorable and Mrs. Robert Woods Bliss
Accession Year
1936
Object Number
1936.121
Division
European and American Art
Contact
am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu
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Publication History

  • Antonio Mezzanotte, Della vite e delle opere di Pietro Vannucci da Castello della Pieve, cognominato il Perugino, Vicenzio Bartelli (Perugia, Italy, 1836), cat. no. 21, p. 198
  • John Postle Heseltine, Original Drawings by Old Masters of the Italian School Forming Part of the Collection of J. P. H., J. J. Waddington, Ltd. (London, England, 1913), cat. no. 38, n.p., repr., as Raphael
  • Exhibition of Italian Art, 1200-1900, exh. cat., Royal Academy of Arts (London, England, 1930), cat no. 577 (as Raphael)
  • Lord Balniel and Kenneth Clark, ed., A Commemorative Catalogue of the Exhibition of Italian Art held in the Galleries of the Royal Academy, Burlington House, London, January - March 1930, exh. cat. (London, 1931), cat. no. 718
  • Arthur E. Popham, Italian Drawings Exhibited at the Royal Academy, Burlington House, London, 1930, Oxford University Press (NY) (London, England, 1931), cat. no. 116, p. 34, pl. XCVIII (as Raphael)
  • Charles Holmes, "Henry Oppenheimer--a Collector and his Ways", The London Studio (September 1936), vol. XII, no. 66, pp. 115-134, p. 118, repr. p. 132, as Raphael
  • Catalogue of the Famous Collection of Old Master Drawings Formed by the Late Henry Oppenheimer, Esq., F.S.A., auct. cat., Christie's, London (London, July 10, 1936 - July 14, 1936), lot 155, pl. 40
  • Agnes Mongan, "A Gift of Old Master Drawings", Bulletin of the Fogg Art Museum, Fogg Art Museum (Cambridge, MA, March 1937), vol. VI, no. 2, pp. 22-34, repr. fig. 3 as Raphael
  • Agnes Mongan and Paul J. Sachs, Drawings in the Fogg Museum of Art, Harvard University Press (Cambridge, 1940), vol. 1, cat. no. 151, pp. 86-87; vol. 2, repr. fig. 84, as Raphael
  • Sylvia Ferino Pagden, Disegni Umbri del Rinascimento da Perugino a Raffaello, exh. cat., Leo S. Olschki (Florence, Italy, 1982), under cat. no. 42, p. 69, as Lo Spagna
  • James Sperber, "Technical Examination of Eight Metalpoint Drawings from the Fogg Art Museum" (thesis (certificate in conservation), Straus Center for Conservation and Technical Studies, May 1983), Unpublished, passim
  • Fausta Gualdi Sabatini, Giovanni di Pietro detto Lo Spagna, Accademia Spoletina (Spoleto, Italy, 1984), cat. no. 99, pp. 315-316, repr. pl. 229, as Lo Spagna
  • Agnes Mongan, "On Silverpoint Drawings and the Subject of Left-Handedness", Drawings Defined, ed. Walter Strauss, Abaris Books (New York, NY, 1987), pp. 150-64, pp. 153 and 155, repr. p. 153, fig. 4, as Lo Spagna
  • Agnes Mongan, Konrad Oberhuber, and Jonathan Bober, The Famous Italian Drawings at the Fogg Art Museum in Cambridge, Silvana Editoriale (Milan, Italy, 1988), cat. no. 15, n.p., and p. 22, repr. color
  • Edward Saywell, Behind the Line: The Materials and Techniques of Old Master Drawings, Harvard University Art Museums Bulletin, Harvard University Art Museums (Cambridge, 1998), vol. 6, no. 2, no. 13, pp. 26-27
  • Penley Knipe, "Grounds on Paper: An Examination of Eight Early Drawings" (thesis (certificate in conservation), Straus Center for Conservation and Technical Studies, 1998), Unpublished, pp. 1-22 passim

Exhibition History

  • Exhibition of Italian Art, 1200-1900, Royal Academy of Arts, London, 01/01/1930 - 03/08/1930
  • Behind the Line: The Materials and Techniques of Old Master Drawings, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, 10/03/1998 - 12/30/1998

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of European and American Art at am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu