Alessandro Magnasco, called il Lissandrino Genoa 1667 - 1749

The technique of this double-sided drawing is characteristic of one aspect of Magnasco's varied oeuvre.  The verso in particular is close, not only in technique but also in form, to a group of four drawings of religious subjects which seem to have been conceived as a series, perhaps for a decorative scheme (see Alessandro Magnasco, exhibition catalogue, Milan, Palazzo Reale, 1996, p. 276, cat. no. 88).  The form, and size,  of the drawing on the recto is similar to two others of the Passion of Christ (see Milan exhibition, op. cit., p. 278, cat. no. 89).  It has been suggested that these drawings with rounded tops might have been intended for small devotional paintings, but neither side of the present study can be related to a surviving composition.  Mary Newcome has kindly confirmed from a photograph the attribution to Alessandro Magnasco.