drawing
- Museum number
- 1991,0511.29
- Description
-
Head of Christ; head of a bearded man in profile to right, his mouth slightly open
Black and white chalk, on yellowish brown paper
- Production date
- 1633 (circa)
- Dimensions
-
Height: 204 millimetres
-
Width: 148 millimetres
- $Inscriptions
-
- Curator's comments
- A study or record drawing ('ricordo') for the head of Christ in 'The Supper of Emmaus'in the Schönborn collection at Pommersfelden, one of Strozzi's most famous compositions, L. Mortari, 'Bernardo Strozzi,' Rome, 1995, no. 255. Strozzi executed several versions, the first of which, at the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Grenoble, was painted in Genoa about 1630, before the artist's departure for Venice, M.C. Galassi, in exhib. cat., Palazzo Ducale, Genoa, 'Bernardo Strozzi. Genova 1581/82-Venezia 1644, 995, no. 50. After his arrival in Venice about 1633, Strozzi painted a second version, the one at Pommersfelden. Finished studies such as the BM one were made in order to faciliate the making of studio copies: Mortari lists 17 of the 'Supper at Emmaus'.
A very similar drawing of Christ's head was sold at Christie's New York, 28 January 1999, lot 10 along with a drawing of the entire figure (lot 9). Like the present work they also came from the so-called Borghese-Sagredo collection.
- Location
- Not on display
- Exhibition history
-
1995-6 Nov-Apr, BM, Recent Acquisitions (no cat.)
- Acquisition date
- 1991
- Acquisition notes
- This item has an uncertain or incomplete provenance for the years 1933-45. The British Museum welcomes information and assistance in the investigation and clarification of the provenance of all works during that era.
The Sagredo drawings passed from Nicolò to his brother Stefano and then to Zaccaria. They were dispersed by the latter's wife Cecilia c. 1743. A sizeable group of them were in a private collection in Lyon until they were sold c. 1919.
- Department
- Prints and Drawings
- Registration number
- 1991,0511.29
