Marcantonio Franceschini (Bologna 1648-1729)

This drawing, executed with Marcantonio's characteristic clearly defined outlines, can be compared to a number of drawings: Allegory of the monarchy in Kasteel van Loppen, Bruges; An allegory of the Catholic Church, Holkham Hall, Norfolk; and The Birth of the Virgin, Fondazione Cini, Venice (D.C. Miller, Marcantonio Franceschini, Turin, 2001, nos. D15, D88 and D130). Although the style of this sheet and the indications of a lunette shape suggest it was intended as a design for an altarpiece, no such project is known to have survived.