Carlo Dolci (Florence 1616-1686)

The present work dates from the beginning of Dolci's career, when he was particularly influenced by his master Jacopo Vignali, by Federico Zuccaro, and by the champions of the Florentine Maniera — Jacopo Pontormo and Rosso Fiorentino — as shown here by the elongated type of the standing figure. Carefully executed with red chalk on a large sheet, the imposing woman, caught with her palms outstretched, was further studied by Dolci in two other red chalk drawings in the Uffizi (inv. nos. 18198F, 1176F), perhaps in preparation for a Madonna in a never completed Crucifixion. The same figure, seated, is studied at lower right, closely resembling the Virgin in Dolci's Holy Family with the Trinity in a private collection (F. Baldassari, Carlo Dolci. Complete Catalogue of Paintings, Florence 2015, no. 11, ill.).