Pietro Faccini

Lot Description Pietro Faccini (Bologna 1560-1602) A seated male youth, his torso bare with inscription 'Coreggio' red chalk, the top corners cut, watermark device 9 3/8 x 12 7/8 in. (23.7 x 33 cm.), Pre-Lot Text THE PROPERTY OF A PRIVATE COLLECTOR Provenance Sir Joshua Reynolds (L.2364). Possibly Major H.E. Morritt, Rokeby Park, Barnard Castle,Yorkshire, England, and by descent to John Bacon Sawrey Morritt, Rokeby Park, and (presumably) by descentto Robin Morritt. Ian Woodner, New York; Christie's, London, 2 July 1991, lot105. With Colnaghi, London, 1992, where purchased by James Fairfax, Bowral, New South Wales. Literature C. Legrand, Le dessin à Bologne, 1580-1620: la réforme des troisCarracci, exh. cat., Paris, Louvre, 1994, p. 101, under no.66. J. Goldman, 'A new attribution to Faccini', Antichità Viva, XXXV,nos. 2-3, December 1996, pp. 27-30. Exhibited Sydney, Art Gallery of New South Wales, The James FairfaxCollection of Old Master Paintings, Drawings, and Prints, 17April-20 July 2003, no. 21. Lot Notes Faccini was a contemporary of Annibale Carracci (1560-1609), andindeed received training at the Carracci Academy before opening hisown art school in the late 1590s. He was influenced not just by theCarraccis' return to naturalism, but by the elegance of Correggio(1489-1534), who lived and worked two generations before theBolognese artist. The inscription in the lower left shows that atone point the drawing was even believed to be by Correggio. The figure in this drawing is actually after one by Correggio inthe lower section of his fresco decorating the cupola of the Duomoat Parma. Faccini has adapted the young boy's pose - covering thelower part of his torso with fabric, making the composition lookmore like an Academy study. The soft, diffuse handling of the redchalk to render light and dark is beautifully demonstrated in theshadow cast by the boy's arm across his body. This use of the chalkto describe light and shadow is a distinctive feature of Faccini'sdraftsmanship.

PIETRO FACCINI BOLOGNE VERS 1562 - 1602 measurements note 430 x 250 mm DESCRIPTION Sanguine et traces de rehauts de craie blanche CATALOGUE NOTE Cette étude de nu est un bel exemple de la période de Pietro Faccini alors qu'il emprunte un style proche de celui de son maître, Annibale Carracci. Bien que le modelé soit quelque peu accentué, les formes sont toujours modérées et échappent à toute déformation en comparaison d'autres dessins de ce type, lorsque son style devient plus original (comme décrit par Malvasia ci-dessous). De plus, les volumes sont définis par des lignes puissantes, et le sfumato de la sanguine crée un réel contraste entre les zones d'ombre et de lumière. Le dessin que nous présentons semble avoir été réalisé d'après nature, et bien que l'artiste puisse avoir eu un saint Jean-Baptiste à l'esprit au moment de son exécution, les académies de ce genre sont souvent des exercices personnels, en dehors de tout projet précis. Les études d'hommes nus de Faccini étaient bien connues et fort appréciées des collectionneurs. Le biographe Carlo Cesare Malvasia remarque qu'il y avait plusieurs exemples de nus par Faccini dans toutes les grandes collections de son temps, parmi lesquelles la collection du Cardinal Leopoldo de' Medici. Il note également la forte influence de, Annibale: 'tanto disegnò dal nudo, che infiniti si vedono di que' suoi modelli in tutte le piú famose raccolte, fra le quali quella del serenissimo sig. Principe Cardinal Leopoldo, presso il quale sonsene ridotte le centinaia, alle volte così guizzanti così svolazzanti e quel ch'è più, così facili e franchi che sembrano del suo maestro [Annibale Carracci], come per di sua mano molti tutto il di si vedono.'1 Nous remercions Aidan Weston-Lewis de nous avoir confirmé l'attribution de ce dessin à Pietro Faccini sur la base d'une photographie. 1. Voir C.C. Malvasia, Felsina Pittrice, Vite dei Pittori Bolognesi, Bologne 1971, p. 330. A SEATED MALE NUDE Red chalk heightened with traces of white chalk This handsome study of a youth is a good example of the period when Faccini is closest to the graphic style of his master, Annibale Carracci. Although the modelling is somewhat accentuated, the forms are still restrained and not distorted as in other known drawings of this type, where his style becomes more eccentric (as described by Malvasia below). Futhermore, the volumes are well defined by strong lines and the sfumato of the red chalk creates contrasting areas of light and shadow. The study appears to be drawn from life and whilst it could have been executed with a St John the Baptist in mind, academies such as these are generally personal exercises, unconnected to a specific project. Faccini's male nude studies were traditionally well-known and appreciated by collectors. The biographer Carlo Cesare Malvasia notes that there were examples of Faccini's nudes in all the most famous collections of his time, including that of Cardinal Leopoldo de' Medici. He also stresses the strong influence of Annibale: 'tanto disegnò dal nudo, che infiniti si vedono di que' suoi modelli in tutte le piú famose raccolte, fra le quali quella del serenissimo sig. Principe Cardinal Leopoldo, presso il quale sonsene ridotte le centinaia, alle volte così guizzanti così svolazzanti e quel ch'è più, così facili e franchi che sembrano del suo maestro [Annibale Carracci], come per di sua mano molti tutto il di si vedono'.1 We are grateful to Aidan Weston-Lewis for having endorsed the attribution of the present drawing to Pietro Faccini on the basis of a photograph. 1. See, C.C. Malvasia, Felsina Pittrice, Vite dei Pittori Bolognesi, ed. Bologna 1971, p. 330.

Red chalk, heightened with white chalk, on buff paper; bears old attribution in brown ink, lower left: Schidone; and on the mount in another hand than Dezallier's: Scidone and No.113. Doit O PROVENANCE Antoine-Joseph Dezallier d'Argenville (L.2951, bears his paraph and number 1003 on the mount), his sale, Paris, 18-28 January 1779, lot 113 (as Schidone); The British Rail Pension Fund, by whom sold, London, Sotheby's, 1 July 1991, lot 84 LITERATURE AND REFERENCES Jacqueline Labbé and Lise Bicart-Sée, La collection de dessins d'Antoine-Joseph Dezallier d'Argenville, Paris 1996, p. 196, no. 1003, reproduced CATALOGUE NOTE Although this drawing bears an old attribution to Schedone, as Diane DeGrazia and other scholars noted prior to the 1991 sale, it relates convincingly to other nude studies by Faccini. Mario di Giampaolo has confirmed the attribution. Jacqueline Labbé (loc. cit.) notes that Gabriel de Saint-Aubin made a sketch of this drawing in his copy of the Dezallier sale catalogue.

PIETRO FACCINI (c.1562-1602) - RECTO: MADONNA AND CHILD AND ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST VERSO: STUDY FOR A DEPOSITION -
Mis: 220 by 205mm
bears old attribution in pen and ink on the verso: di Pietro Faccini Bolognese/Faccini pen and brown ink and wash recto and black chalk verso

CATALOGUE NOTE
Mario di Giampaolo has kindly informed us that the study on the recto does not relate to any known picture by Faccini, but that the use of wash is characteristic and can be found in a number of his drawings. A particular comparison can be made with two studies related to Faccini's Assumption in Santa Maria dei Servi, Bologna: one for the lower section of the composition1 and another for the whole composition, also executed in the same media, now in Avignon.2 The very interesting chalk study on the verso is quite close to an oil monochrome3 which appears on the verso of a small painting on copper, in a private collection, representing Christ with Angels (fig.1). Mario di Giampaolo has remarked on the very Tintorettesque style of the verso of the present sheet and mentioned a number of other studies by Faccini of the same subject.4 None, however, seem to relate very closely to this representation, which was probably intended for a small painting for private devotion similar to fig. 1. 1. Louvre, inv. no. 7023, see Mario de Giampaolo, Review of Michael Jaffé, The Devonshire Collection of Italian Drawings, in Dialoghi di Storia dell'Arte, October 1995, 1, p. 177, fig. 5 2. See Mario di Giampaolo, 'Un appunto su Pietro Faccini disegnatore', Bollettino d' Arte, April-June, 1979, p. 105, no. 8 3. See Emilio Negro-Nicosetta Roio, Pietro Faccini, Modena 1997, p. 111, fig 30.1 4. See for instance Vienna, Albertina inv. no. 1465, London British Museum , inv. no 1986-6-21-4

Pietro Faccini (Bologna 1562-1602) A reclining nude pierced by an arrow, a study for a Saint Sebastian oil on paper, irregular 14 7/8 x 18 7/8 in. (37.7 x 48.0 cm.) Provenance (Probably) 1st Duke of Montagu (1712-1790), Montagu House, Whitehall, and thence by descent. Anonymous sale; Christie's, London, 6 December 1988, lot 80, as 'Annibale Carracci'. Lot Notes Pietro Faccini was a Bolognese painter, draftsman and printmaker, who only began to paint at the age of 30 and produced about a dozen works between 1590 and 1602. He trained at the Carracci Academy in Bologna before opening his own school in 1594 and his style remained close to that of the Carracci, though less formal and with a lively use of color. We are grateful to Prof. Mario di Giampaolo for confirming the attribution to Faccini (written communication, 10 May 2004). Prof. de Giampaolo relates the work to other drawings of nudes in the Kupferstichkabinett, Berlin and the Uffizi, Florence.