17th Century Study Of A Standing Youth

Paolo Gerolamo Piola (1666–1724), Genoese School, late 17th.

Study of a standing youth, his arms raised above his head, with drapery. Pen, ink and wash, within ruled framing lines, laid down on a backing sheet.

28 × 9 cm

Old attribution on the mount to Domenico Piola, the artist's father.

Provenance 

Sir John Clermont Witt (1907–1982), London, his collector's mark stamped on the backing sheet (L.646a); the front of the mount with his initials JCW, and numbered 1411 in pencil.

Paolo Gerolamo Piola was a Genoese-born Baroque artist, the son of Domenico Piola. He studied in Rome under Carlo Maratta and was very much influenced by the work of the Carracci. He is mainly known for sacred subjects and interior frescoes, for which the present drawing is probably a design.

Sir John Witt was the son of Sir Robert Witt, one of the founders of the Courtauld, and acted as legal adviser to the Art Fund for many years. The Courtauld Gallery identifies L.646a as his mark, on a drawing that came to the Courtauld through the John Witt Bequest via the Art Fund in 1982. Part of his collection was later sold at Sotheby's, London, on 19 February 1987.

Previously with Patrick Boyd-Carpenter Fine Art Gallery, Mayfair, London.

Why we like it

Young studio models were the everyday material of Baroque figure drawing, and studies like this preserve something of the living person who stood before the artist, before the figure was idealised for the finished work.

The upturned head, the twist of the torso and the fall of the drapery carry the Roman lessons Piola learned under Maratta. The old attribution to his father, Domenico, is a reminder of how closely the son's work was bound up with the family tradition he was trained in.

The provenance adds to its appeal. It comes from the collection of Sir John Witt, whose family name is inseparable from the history of drawing collecting in Britain. It is still in a mount bearing his initials and number.

Dimensions

Size of the frame: 59 cm x 36 cm / 23.25" x 14.15"
Size of the drawing: 28 cm x 9 cm / 11" x 3.5"