UBALDO GANDOLFI (SAN MATTEO DELLA DECIMA 1728-1781 RAVENNA)

The drawing can be connected to a large altarpiece in the church of San Michele in Vercelli, executed by Ubaldo Gandolfi around 1776 for the Compagnia di San Giovanni Decollato (see M. Dell’Omo, ‘La cultura figurativa a Vercelli e nel Vercellese nel Settecento: nuove indagini’, Arti figurative a Biella e a Vercelli. Il Seicento e il Settecento, Vigliano Biellese, 2004, p. 158, n. 65). A preparatory oil sketch for the painting is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York (inv. 2014.566) and two other drawn versions of the composition are known: a sheet in Palazzo Rosso in Genoa (inv. 2326; see P. Bagni, I Gandolfi. Affreschi dipinti bozzetti disegni, Bologna, 1992, no. 708, ill.) and a second one currently on the art market (with Colnaghi, London, 2023).