Lot 18: GIORGIO PICCHI

A LUNETTE WITH CHRIST AMONG THE DOCTORS

5 3/4 by 10 1/2 in; 146 by 267 mm; arched top

Pen and brown and black ink and brown wash over black chalk, squared for transfer in black chalk

The style of this drawing is closely related to that of one in the Biblioteca Ambrosiana, Milan, (1) which is a study for one of the scenes from the life of St Francis that Picchi painted in the 1590s in the chiostro nuovo of the church of San Francesco, Urbania. Very few other drawings by Picchi are known: the Uffizi has four, (2) and another two are in the Escalar Collection, Rome. (3) His style as a draughtsman is linked to a number of other fascinating personalities working in Rome for Popes Gregory XIII (1572-1585) and Sixtus V (1585-90). Picchi was one of a great number of artists, some still obscure, who were employed in the vast Roman decorations of the Biblioteca Sistina in the Vatican and in the Palazzi Lateranensi and the Scala Santa under the supervision of Cesare Nebbia and Giovanni Guerra. We have been unable to connect this lunette with any known work by the artist.

Picchi was born into a family of majolica painters from Urbania (formerly known as Casteldurante). He worked in Rome, but his first documented commission was in 1582 for an altarpiece in San Francesco, Urbania. For more information on Picchi as a draughtsman and painter see M. Moretti, 'Giorgio Picchi da Casteldurante', Nel segno di Barocci, Milan 2005, pp.198-219.

1. M. Di Giampaolo, 'Per Giorgio Picchi disegnatore', in G.C. Sciolla (ed.), Nuove ricerche in margine alla mostra Da Leonardo a Rembrandt..., Turin 1991, pp. 177-186, p. 182, fig. 9
2. Inv. nos. 11959F, 11902F, 11903F and 11906F
3. See Di Giampaolo, op.cit., figs. 10-11