Giuseppe Maria Crespi

London, Priscilla Weld,
from whom purchased in 1983 by the present owner

The drawing is laid down. Overall the red chalk is quite strong. Quite a bit of the top left corner missing and repaired and a very small section of the bottom corner also missing and repaired. A narrow loss at the center running from the bottom margin for about seven centimeters continuing in a tear with another smaller loss just above. In the middle traces of an old fold, not very noticeable. A tear with small losses running vertically along the whole of the right margin. A much smaller tear also running diagonally from the top towards the figure of the seated king. Tiny dark spots scattered top right and lower margin to the left. Some surface dirt and small staines and small tears along the margins.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

The purpose of this very finished and rare drawing is still unknown, although it was surely intended to be engraved.  It seems to be a commemorative work for members of the Pepoli family, a famous and powerful Bolognese family of bankers for whom in the late 1690s Crespi frescoed two celebrated ceilings, The Triumph of Hercules and The Banquet of the Gods, in the Palazzo Pepoli Campogrande, Bologna.  In the present drawing, the central coat-of-arms, inserted above an architrave in the middle of the architectural setting, is that of France and Navarre.  The two young men, probably members of the Pepoli family, one pointing to the family’s coat-of-arms in the lower right corner, the other wearing a sumptuous ermine-trimmed mantle and a chain with the insignia of the Order of St. Michael, are presenting a petition to a king on a throne, probably Louis XIV.

It has also been suggested that since the Emperor Leopold I, confirming the ancient fief of the family, granted the Pepoli the privilege of coining money in April 1700, that could be the event memorialized in the present drawing, an idea supported by the presence of the allegorical figure of Abundance in a very prominent position in the left foreground, holding a cornucopia overflowing with coins. 

Marco Riccomini will include this impressive sheet in his forthcoming catalogue of the Crespi's drawings.