Lot 536: LORENZO DE FERRARI

LORENZO DE FERRARI GENOA 1680 - 1744 APOLLO IN HIS CHARIOT, LED BY AURORA Black chalk; bears inscription on the mount in pen and brown ink: Lorenzo Defferari and N o . 126. Collezione S o Varni 275 by 350 mm; 10 7/8 by 13 3/4 in; Oval

Giulia Fusconi and Ezia Gavazza, Disegni Genovesi dal xvi al xviii secolo, exhib. cat., Genoa, Galleria Nazionale, et al., 1980, p. 119, reproduced (incorrectly as pen and brown ink)

Santo Varni, Genoa

This is a preparatory study for one of De Ferrari's fresco decorations in the Palazzo Doria (now Banco di Roma), Genoa, made after his return from Rome in 1734. Gavazza (op.cit.) points out the importance of the Roman experience of artists like De Ferrari and Parodi to the development of Genoese painting of that period.

Santo Varni (1807-1885) was a Genoese sculptor who formed an extensive collection of Old Master Drawings, primarily Genoese. His posthumous sale was held in Genoa in 1887 and included about 200 works by Lorenzo de Ferrari.