Live Auction 5979Old Master, 19th Century and British Drawings and Watercolours
Christie’s roundel
Lot 579

Lorenzo de Ferrari (Genoa 1680-1744)

The Assumption of the Virgin

Closed9 July 2009

Price Realised

GBP 4,500

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Lorenzo de Ferrari (Genoa 1680-1744)
The Assumption of the Virgin
with inscription 'Abate Lorenzo Deferari Genova 1680/1744 - allievo di suo padre Gregorio, poi di Maratta Affresco nella Volto della Chiesa di St Sebastiano - Genova'
black chalk, pen and brown ink, inscribed in an oval, ink gall damage
16¼ x 12½ in. (41.2 x 31.8 cm.), unframed

Specialist note

The son of the painter Gregorio de Ferrari (1644-1726), Lorenzo specialised in religious images and was particularly admired for his mastery of perspective in fresco-painting. The present drawing is a preparatory study for The Assumption of the Virgin, which he painted on the ceiling of the church of S. Sebastiano in Genoa, shortly after returning from a study trip to Rome and Florence in 1734 (C.G. Ratti, Delle Vite de' Pittori, Scultori ed Architetti Genovesi, Genoa, 1769, II, p. 269). Another preparatory study for the same ceiling is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (inv. 62.119.3).