Florentine school of the early 17th century.
On the front: Two women kneeling in the foreground, group of figures in the background.
On the back: Monk’s study, cut halfway
Brown ink and wash on black chalk trace on the front and black chalk on the back.
188 x 141 mm – 7 3/8 x 5 9/16 in.
Provenance: Presumably Luigi Grassi collection after an signature worn on an old label (ill.1).
This elegant sheet could be part of the corpus of a Florentine artist, having worked in Rome in the early years of the 17th century and incorporated the style of late Mannerist artists such as Gerolamo Muziano, Giovanni Guerra or Avanzino Nucci.
The flowing and winding line evokes a painter of Tuscan origin among Santi di Tito’s disciples like Giovanni Bilivert and Francesco Furini, both of whom went to Rome in their youth, and were influenced by Lodovico Cigoli.
Condition report: Stain in the middle of the sheet and slight pits in the corners and edges.
