Lot 37: BALDASSARE FRANCESCHINI, CALLED IL VOLTERRANO

BALDASSARE FRANCESCHINI, CALLED IL VOLTERRANO VOLTERRA 1611 - 1689 FLORENCE RECTO: STUDY OF THE HEADS OF THE VIRGIN AND CHILD; VERSO : STUDIES OF ARMS AND THE HILT OF A SWORD Black and white chalk on grey-blue paper; bears inscription: Frances [chini] 202 by 257 mm

C. McCorquodale, 'Some unpublished works by Baldassare Franceschini, il Volterrano', in Paradigma, 5, 1983, p. 70, fig. 68;
M.C. Fabbri in Il seicento fiorentino, exhib. cat., Florence, Palazzo Strozzi, 1987, p. 414, under 1.230;
V. Birke and J. Kertész, Die Italienischen Zeichnungen der Albertina, Vienna 1997, vol. IV, p. 2288, under inv. no. 23924

Sale, London, Sotheby's, Drawings by Baldassare Franceschini, 3 July 1980, lot 57 (catalogue by Charles McCorquodale);
with Thomas Le Claire, Hamburg;
Alfred Normand (L.153c),
by whom sold, London, Christie's, 6 July 1999, lot 121

These studies, like the previous lot, are related to Volterrano's painting of the Mystic Marriage of St. Catherine, now in the collection of the Cassa di Risparmio e Depositi, Prato (fig. 1). The studies on the verso, for the arms of the Virgin and the hilt of St. Catherine's sword, relate closely to the painting. For a discussion of the commission, see the previous lot.

The drawing was in the collection of the distinguished French connoisseur, Alfred Normand. A biographical sketch and appreciation of him was included in the 1999 Christie's sale catalogue.