Lot 50: Head of a putto

Attributed to Antonio Burini (Bologna 1656-1727) Head of a putto black and white chalk, brown and grey wash, silhouetted, on an 18th Century mount 13 3/8 x 10¾ in. (338 x 273 mm.)

The attribution to Burini was suggested by Professor Ann Sutherland Harris on comparison with the frescoed heads of putti in the pendentives of the cupola in S. Giovanni Battista dei Celestini, Bologna (J. Bentini and A. Mazza, et al., Disegni Emiliani del Sei-Settecento, I Grandi Cicli di Affreschi, Milan, 1990. pp. 171-183). The scale, technique and incisions on this drawing indicate that it is part of a cartoon.