MARCANTONIO BASSETTI (VERONA 1586-1630)

This is a very fine example of Marcantonio Bassetti’s oil sketches on paper. Conceived as independent works of art, such works were already highly prized by collectors in the 17th Century. A large group of similar oil sketches by the artist, probably from the collection of Consul Joseph Smith, are in the Royal Collection at Windsor (A. Blunt and E. Croft-Murray, Venetian Drawings of the XVII & XVIII centuries in the Collection of Her Majesty the Queen at Windsor Castle, London, 1957, nos. 1-21).
As revealed by the mount, this work was part of the prestigious collection of Charles-François de Calvière, marquis de Calvière, a prominent 18th Century collector who was a friend of the most important connoisseurs of his time, such as Pierre-Jean Mariette and Pierre Crozat. Calvière’s collection of drawings was only dispersed at auction in 2003 (Christie’s, Paris, 17 December 2003).