NICCOLÒ BERRETTONI | Recto: The Virgin and Child appearing to a Bishop Saint, possibly Carlo BorromeoVerso: Studies of heads and reclining male figure

Collection particulière, Cazères-sur-l'Adour (Landes) ; 
Acquis par échange en 1975.

Rennes, 2012, n°23 (notice par Nicolas Schwed)

Window mounted to a sheet of modern acid free card. There are some very small losses where the iron gall ink has eaten into small areas of the sheet and some minor nicks to the extremities. The studies to the verso show through to the recto in places, however the image remains in predominantly good condition both recto and verso. Sold unframed.
"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. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Berrettoni began his artistic training with Simone Cantarini in Pesaro and moved to Rome in 1670, where he joined the workshop of Carlo Maratta. Though working under the tutelage of Maratta, who was himself the dominant force in Roman art in the latter half of the 17^th century, would have undoubtedly been advantageous in some respects for Berrettoni, it does mean that his reputation has, rather predictably, remained in the shadow of his illustrious master.

The present double sided sheet bears old attributions to both Maratta and Berrettoni, and it is not unusual for the names of both master and student to be associated like this with a very Marattesque composition, such as the one depicting the Virgin and Child appearing to a Saint, seen here on the recto. The verso, which features numerous head studies as well as two studies of a reclining male figure, seem stylistically to be more indicative of Berrettoni, rather than Maratta, with the numerous graceful head studies far more characteristic of the student than the master. Nicolas Schwed also made an interesting observation in the 2012 Rennes catalogue, where he notes the proximity of the two studies of a reclining male on the verso of the Adrien drawing, to a drawn figure of Adonis, found in Berrettoni's drawn depiction of Venus lamenting the death of Adonis, now housed in the collection of the Victoria and Albert Museum, London (fig. 1).¹

We are grateful to Dario Beccarini for proposing an alternative attribution to Giacinto Calandrucci, who, like Berrettoni, was a product of Maratta's studio. Beccarini has drawn particular attention to the verso of the present sheet, comparing the handling of the various head studies particularly that of the woman in the lower centre of the sheet, to a number of comparable pen and ink drawings by Calandrucci in the collection of the Kunstmuseum, Düsseldorf.²

^1. Op. cit., Rennes, p. 82, fig. 1, reproduced
^2. See D. Graf, Die Handzeichnungen von Giacinto Calandrucci, Düsseldorf 1986, vol. I, p. 153, no. 679, vol. II, fig. 750, reproduced and vol. I, p. 67, no. 212, vol. II, fig. 236, reproduced