Juan Antonio de Frias y Escalante

Bears unidentified collector's mark, not in Lugt;
with José de La Mano, July 2013 (as Spanish School, 17th Century),
where purchased by the present owner

This interesting black chalk drawing, of a bishop at an altar holding a cross, can be compared to a drawing by Juan Antonio de Frias y Escalante, depicting St. Joseph, in the Prado, Madrid.¹ Not only similar in technique and handling, but also in the mise en page, both drawings illustrate, in the foreground of the composition, the protagonist on a shallow set of steps (both seemingly in church interiors) with an architectural backdrop visible in the distance, in both cases an open archway to the right of the scene.  The artist has framed both drawings within black chalk framing lines and the same soft application of chalk is evident.

Juan Antonio de Frias y Escalante was born in Cordoba, but very early on in his rather short career he established himself in Madrid, where he entered the workshop of Francesco Rizi.  His works reveal a great admiration for Venetian Masters like Tintoretto and Veronese, as well as a stylistic interest in Alonso Cano and his followers.

For another drawing by Juan Antonio de Frias y Escalante, see lot 85.

1. Dessins espagnols: Maîtres des XVIe et XVIIe siècles, exhib. cat., Paris, Musée du Louvre, 1991, p. 140, no. 64, reproduced p. 141