A Selection of master drawings 2014

on grey paper at the Louvre and are incredibly similar to
our work (Inv. nn. 3376, 3385 e 3386, see Dowley 1959,
n. 43; Dowley 1966, pp. 428-429, fig. 5). It is therefore
probable to date this drawing to circa 1657.Interestingly,
one needs to consider the apparent relation between our
Male Figure and Maratta’s contribution in the same year
to the fresco cycle designed by Pietro da Cortona for the
Galleria of Alessandro VII at the Quirinale and assigned to
a numerous group of important artists including Maratta
himself (Lazzaro Baldi, Gaspard Dughet, Filippo Lauri,
Ciro Ferri, Giovanni Paolo Schor, Pier Francesco Mola,
Giovan Francesco Grimaldi, Guglielmo Courtois, among
others; see Negro 2008 [2009], pp. 155-166).The basis
of this comparison lies in the restoration of the Galleria
(2001-2011), which was divided into three separate rooms
(Sala degli Ambasciatori, Sala di Augusto e Sala Gialla)
and greatly altered during Napoleon’s occupation of the
Palace (1812-1814; for more information on the history
and restoration of the Quirinale see Godart in Nostoi,
2007). The removal of the 19 th century wall decorations
has brought to light a set of grisaille double columns and
eight couples of male draped figures with offerings placed
close to an altar. These figures have much in common
with our figure. One figure in particular, visible on the
north-eastern wall of the Sala di Augusto, is depicted with
the same gaze of devotion with his arms lifted, possibly
holding an amphora. Unfortunately, neither the rich
documentation on the fresco cycle nor the testimony of
Giovan Pietro Bellori and other contemporary writers
reveal the identity of the artists responsible for the grisailles,
executed in fresco by different artists under the supervision
of Cortona. Nevertheless, if we consider the importance of
the intervention by Maratta, who was responsible of the
large Adoration of the Shepherds at the end of the Galleria
and of the four figures of angels at the side, added later in
1848 by the Roman artist Luigi Cochetti, it is feasible to
suggest that these lateral spaces could have been intended
for another pair of male figures, one of which could have
been based on our drawing.
Maria Cecilia Fabbri