Ludovico Carracci (Bologna 1555-1619)

The Holy Family with Saint Jerome: study for a lunette

Details

Ludovico Carracci (Bologna 1555-1619)
The Holy Family with Saint Jerome: study for a lunette
red chalk, pen and brown ink, brown wash in an inscribed arch, the upper corners cut outside the arch
5¼ x 10 3/8 in. (133 x 262 mm.)

Provenance

G. Hubert (L. 1160).
J. Richardson, Sen. (L. 2184), his mount with attribution 'Annibale Carracci' and shelf mark 'Zl.60 E.7. zl.3. V.22. L.'
The Duke of Rutland, according to an inscription on the backing, now lost.
Alan Capps; Christie's, London, 26 March 1974, lot 140.
Anonymous sale; Christie's, London, 20 April 1993, lot 71.

Lot Essay

Sir Denis Mahon and Dr. Babette Bohn have both confirmed the attribution to Ludovico Carracci, the latter based on a photograph in a communication dated 2 December 2003.
Dr. Bohn dates the drawing to circa 1588-1590 and compares the drawing's style to that of two sheets of the same period of Christ carrying the Cross at Chatsworth (M. Jaffé, The Devonshire Collection of Italian Drawings, Bolognese and Emilian Schools, London, 1994, no. 521) and Christ adored by Carthusian monks sold at Sotheby's, Monaco, 20 June 1987, lot 101 (illustrated in M. Jaffé, op. cit., p. 109).
The drawing will be included in Dr. Bohn's forthcoming monograph on Ludovico's drawings (Ludovico Carracci and the Art of Drawing), no. 56, to be published in 2004.
We are grateful for her help in cataloguing this lot.

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