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Sep 27, 2010

Study for the Head of St. Michael

1633

Pietro da Cortona

(Italian, 1596–1669)

Italy, 17th century

Black chalk

Support: Beige(1) laid paper, perimeter mounted to cream(3) laid paper

Sheet: 19 x 16.8 cm (7 1/2 x 6 5/8 in.); Secondary Support: 31.9 x 27.6 cm (12 9/16 x 10 7/8 in.)

Leonard C. Hanna, Jr. Fund 1996.257

Location

not on view

Did you know?

The fresco for which this drawing was made as a preparatory study joins works of art by Peter Paul Rubens as well as relics of the Saint Philip Neri in the Chiesa Nuova in Rome.

Description

Pietro da Cortona drew this angelically beautiful face in a style reminiscent of the work of Renaissance master Raphael (1483–1520). Cortona's use of black chalk to develop extremely subtle effects of shading shows the technique at its most refined. He drew this sheet in preparation for a ceiling decoration, Saint Michael and Angels with the Instruments of the Passion, painted in fresco in the church of Santa Maria in Vallicella (better known as the Chiesa Nuova, or "New Church") in Rome, completed in 1633.

Provenance

1979

Anonymous sale, Christie's, London, 28 March 1979, no. 173a (as Francesco Romanelli in catalogue, attribution changed to Pietro da Cortona by date of sale).

1979?-1996

Duke Roberto Ferretti di Castelferretto, London.

1996

his sale, Christie's, London, 2 July 1996, no. 47.

1996-

The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH

Citations

Merz, Jörg Martin. Pietro da Cortona: Der Aufstieg zum führenden Maler im barocken Rom. Tübingen: Ernst Wasmuth, 1991. Mentioned: p. 234, note 215; Reproduced: n. 366

Russell, Francis. "Salesroom Discovery: A Study by Pietro da Cortona." The Burlington Magazine 121, no. 915 (June 1979): 405-406. Mentioned: p. 405; Reproduced: p. 406, n. 98

McTavish, David. Italian Drawings from the Collection of Duke Roberto Ferretti. Toronto: Art Gallery of Ontario, 1985. Mentioned: p. 76, under n. 32; Reproduced: p. 77

Merz, Jörg Martin. "I disegni di Pietro da Cortona per gli affreschi nella Chiesa Nuova a Roma." Bollettino d'Arte 86-87 (July-October 1994): 37-76. Mentioned: pp. 38-39; Reproduced: p. 39, n. 2

Rodrigues, Terence, edited. Christie's Review of the Year. London: Christie's, 1996. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 31

CMA Annual Report (1996) Mentioned: pp. 28 and 47; Reproduced: p. 38

"International Auction Review." Drawing 18, no. 2 (Fall 1996): 60-61. Mentioned: p. 60; Reproduced: p. 61

"International Auction Review." On Paper 1, no. 1 (September-October 1996): 44-47. Reproduced: p. 45

"Adjugé." L'objet d'art 307 (November 1996): 22-23. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 22

Russell, Francis. "The Ferretti Collection." Christie's International Magazine 13, no. 5 (June 1996): 22-23. Mentioned: pp. 22-23; Reproduced: p. 23

Cleveland Museum of Art, “Rare Korean Screen Painting, Important Baroque Drawing, Sheeler Drawing Join the Museum Collection,” October 10, 1996, Cleveland Museum of Art Archives. archive.org

"Principales Acquisitions des Musées en 1996." Gazette des Beaux-Arts 139 (March 1997): 3-98. Reproduced: p. 60, n. 230

Foster, Carter E. "The Head of an Angel." CMA Bulletin (March 1997): 7. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 7

Foster, Carter E., "The Head of an Angel" Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland Art: The Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine. Vol. 37 no. 03, March 1997 Mentioned & reproduced: p.7 archive.org

DeGrazia, Diane and Carter E. Foster. Master Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art in association with Rizzoli International Publications, New York, 2000. Mentioned: pp. 11, 52-53, 285; Reproduced: p. 53, n. 16

Exhibition history

Italian Drawings from the Collection of Duke Roberto Ferretti. Art Gallery of Ontario, Toronto (October 26, 1985 - January 5, 1986); The Pierpont Morgan Library, New York (February 14 - April 20, 1986).

Master Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 27-October 17, 2000); The Morgan Library & Museum, New York, NY (May 23-August 19, 2001); Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Houston, TX (October 14, 2001-January 6, 2002).

Cite this page

{{cite web|title=Study for the Head of St. Michael|url=https://clevelandart.org/art/1996.257|author=Pietro da Cortona|year=1633|access-date=01 April 2023|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

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Study for the Head of St. Michael

Study for the Head of St. Michael

Pietro da Cortona

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