Saturday 15 May 2021 at 14h00
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Focus lot
Lot N° 100
Gian Lorenzo BERNINI (1598-1680)Academy of a man
Sanguine with light white chalk highlights
56 x 42,5 cm
Bears on the mount a cartouche with an attribution to Pierre Puget
Provenance :
- Private collection, Compiègne
Expert : Cabinet de BAYSER - 01 47 03 49 87
(drawing visible at the expert until March 17th)
The work will be delivered with a certificate authorizing its export out of France.
This drawing will be delivered with a certificate authorizing its exportation outside of France.
Our drawing is very close to the academies of similar dimensions preserved in the Uffizi Museum in Florence (in Selected drawings of Gian Lorenzo Bernini, Ann Sutherland Harris, Dover Publications, NY, 1977, cat. 4 & 5), as well as to another academy preserved in the Teyler Museum from the collection of Christine of Sweden (Regteren van Altena, Les dessins italiens de la reine Christine de Suède, Stockholm, 1966, repr. Fig.75).
Bernini's academic figures are inspired by the power of Michelangelo's ignudi. The bodies appear gigantic because they are as if curled up in the space defined by the sheet. They would go far beyond the imposed frame if they unfolded their limbs. The contours are drawn with numerous small, superimposed, discontinuous sanguine lines. The bodies thus emit a contained power, and the treatment of the contours renders the vibration of the flesh. The rocks and vegetation are contrasted by a treatment of broad and vigorous hatching.
Without being directly preparatory, these academies can be compared to the allegorical beings representing the rivers of the four parts of the world in the fountain in Piazza Navona. The fountain in Piazza Navona was made for Innocent X from 1648.
We are grateful to Mrs Ann Sutherland Harris, who confirmed the attribution of the drawing to Bernini.
Condition report:
Lined
Tear running horizontally across the leaf in the center
Small lack on the right shoulder (2 cm x 1 cm), small lack on the right arm (0.5 cm)
Restored missing upper corners
Missing on the left edge 0.5 cm wide by 20 cm; 0.5 cm wide by 5 cm
A few scattered epidermal marks
A small pinhole on the right thigh, a small pinhole on the foot, a small pinhole in the groin and a small pinhole on the left shin
Small scattered black spots
Condition report :
Glued
Horizontal tear in the middle
Little loss of paper on the right shoulder (2 cm x 1 cm), and on the right arm (0,5 cm)
Irregular hedges
Upper corners restored
Two losses on the left hedge (0,5 cm x 20 cm); (0,5 x 5 cm)
Little losses on the surface of the paper
Four small pin holes : two on the right thigh, on the right foot, and one on the left tibia
Little black stains
