Lot 331: Pieter de Witte, called Pietro Candido (Bruges 1540/8-1628 Munich)

Pieter de Witte, called Pietro Candido (Bruges 1540/8-1628 Munich)
The Annunciation
with inscriptions '[...] Roncalli [...]' (lower right margin)
black chalk, pen and brown ink, brown wash, heightened with white, on blue paper, pen and brown ink framing lines, squared in red chalk
14 5/8 x 10 in. (37.3 x 25.4 cm.)

No VAT will be charged on the hammer price, but VAT at 17.5% will be added to the buyer's premium, which is invoiced on a VAT inclusive basis.
Please note Payments and Collections will be unavailable on Monday 12th July 2010 due to a major update to the Client Accounting IT system. For further details please call +44 (0) 20 7839 9060 or e-mail info@christies.com
Pieter de Witte, or Pietro Candido, arrived in Munich in 1586 at the invitation of the new Duke Wilhelm V of Bavaria. He was summoned primarily to help with the decoration of Wilhelm's grand new church of St Michael, founded for the Jesuits, and the present drawing is a modello for de Witte's first commission for the church, The Annunciation (1587). De Witte remained in Munich until his death, working for both private patrons and for the court, serving Wilhelm until the latter's abdication in 1597 and then his successor Maximilian.