drawing
- Museum number
- 1946,0713.1284
- Description
-
The Birth of the Virgin; held on the lap of a female figure, two figures bending at right and two standing in a doorway behind
Brush drawing in brown wash, heightened with white, on brown oiled paper
- Production date
- 1640-1713
- Dimensions
-
Height: 308 millimetres
-
Width: 208 millimetres
- $Inscriptions
-
- Curator's comments
- Lit.: A.E. Popham, 'Catalogue of Drawings in the Collection formed by Sir Thomas Phillipps, Bart., F.R.S., now in the possession of his Grandson, T. Fitzroy Phillipps Fenwick of Thirlestaine House, Cheltenham', I, London, 1935, p. 116, no. 2 (as Anonymous XVII century); N. Turner, 'Italian Drawings in the BM, Roman Baroque Drawings', London, 1999, I, no. 201
Turner 1999
The drawing, which was executed over what appears to be a sheet of household accounts, apparently dated 31 December 1700, turned upside down, appears to be by a follower of Maratti. Philip Pouncey noticed the connection in composition with the artist's etching of the subject (Bartsch, 1803-21, xxi, p. 89, no. 1), and believed it to be Maratti's preparatory study (see his note in the register). But the drawing is in the same direction as the print and is almost twice its size and must therefore be a free copy after it. Moreover, the date of the accounts would also seem to argue against the drawing being a preliminary study, since Maratti made his etchings while still a young man (Bellini, 1977, p. 15).
There seems to be some resemblance in style to the work of Pietro de' Pietri (q.v).
Literature: Popham, 1935, I, p. 116, no. 2 (as possibly Bolognese, of the mid-seventeenth century); London and Edinburgh, 1973, under no. 86 (as Maratti).
- Location
- Not on display
- Acquisition date
- 1946
- Department
- Prints and Drawings
- Registration number
- 1946,0713.1284
