Lot 551: Carlo Donelli, il Vimercati (Milan 1660-1715)

Carlo Donelli, il Vimercati (Milan 1660-1715)
A seated male nude
with inscription 'F. Porta'
red chalk, watermark device
10 x 7¼ in. (25.4 x 18.6 cm.), unframed

Anonymous sale; Christie's, London, 18 April 1989, lot 31.
with Trinity Fine Art, Paris, Salon du Dessin, Dessins Anciens de l'Ecole Lombarde, 2001, no. 26, as 'Ferdinando Porta'.

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 15% will be added to the buyer's premium which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.
Despite the previous attribution to Ferdinando Porta, this forceful figure study relates closely to other works by Donelli. It is a preparatory drawing for the Baptist in Donelli's 1711 altarpiece, San Carlo e San Giovanni Battista al cospetto dell'Eterno in S. Vittore, Isola Bella, Stresa. Another study for the same figure, which shows the model in a similar pose, but with the drapery and the Baptist's staff more clearly defined, is in the Biblioteca Ambrosiana, Milan (inv. F. 231 Inf. n. 90). For further discussion of the artist's draughtsmanship, see A. Poggi, 'I disegni di Carlo Donelli detto il Vimercati: un'esperienza accademica nella Milano tra Sei e Settecento', Nuovi Studi, 12 (2007), pp. 171-95. Another drawing by Donelli, apparently showing the same model as in the present study, was sold at Christie's, New York, 22 January 2003, lot 46.