Denys CALVAERT (Anvers vers 1540 - Bologne 1619)

Lot 25
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Estimation :
5000 - 7000 EUR
Denys CALVAERT (Anvers vers 1540 - Bologne 1619)
The Immaculate Conception Sanguine and white highlights, silhouetted one centimetre from the motif, on brown washed paper 27.8 x 15 cm Bears in the lower centre an inscription in pen and brown ink Dionisio and the stamp of an unidentified collection (Lugt no. 2882) Provenance: - Acquired in the art trade in Paris in 1968. Exhibition: - Drawings from the Christian and Isabelle Adrien collection, Rennes, Musée des Beaux - Arts, 2012, n° 25, reproduced. Note: Our drawing is a preparatory study for the central fi gure of the altarpiece painted for the sacristy of the Santa Lucia church in Bologna. This altarpiece is now on display in the church of Sant Antonio Abate. It is one of the first works painted by the artist under the direction of one of his masters, Lorenzo Sabatini. The theme of the Immaculate Conception, which originated in the Apocalypse of St. John, was particularly popular in the iconography of the Counter-Reformation after the Council of Trent. The composition by Calvaert, a Flemish artist who moved to Italy around 1561, differs from the Immaculate Conceptions of Italian artists only in the presence of the Child Jesus, which was undoubtedly inspired by the engravings of Dürer. The inscription Dionisio is the Italianized name of the artist. Another preparatory drawing for the same altarpiece, with variants, belongs to a private collection. We can link our drawing to a group of works dating from the early 1570s. The same treatment can be found on a drawing kept in the Louvre, The Coronation of the Virgin (inv. 52347). Later on, Calvaert's line became more supple and refined, surrounded by a sfumato inspired by Baroque. Calvaert quickly became the head of an important workshop, receiving numerous commissions for the Church or for private devotion, and with experience on the largest sites in Florence and Rome, he was the only Fleming to have made a name for himself in Bologna's artistic circles.
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