Lot 62: Stefano Pozzi (1707-1768)

Two putti playing with a mitre and books; and Two putti looking at a picture of Diana of Ephesus the first inscribed 'Jusi Canonico' (?) black and white chalk on blue paper 101/2 x 121/2 in. (265 x 316 mm.) a pair (2) NOTES Studies for two of the four overdoors in the library of the Palazzo Sciarra al Corso in Rome, now the seat of the Banca di Roma (G. Michel, I Pozzi, Bergamo, 1975, pp. 155-6 and 183, figs. 1 and 4). The frescoes were commissioned by Prospero Sciarra Colonna (1707-1765) to decorate the oval library designed by the architect Luigi Vanvitelli in 1743. The work was finished by 1750. Vanvitelli's drawings for the library are at the Metropolitan Museum of Art and at Caserta (C. Marinelli, Vanvitelli, exhib. cat., Caserta, Palazzo Reale, 1991, nos. 254-65). In one of the drawings Vanvitelli included the sketch of the putti looking at Artemis of Ephesus (2). We are grateful to Laurie Bervili‚ for suggesting this attribution.