(Bologna 1574-1623) A courtly party making music at a banquet, inscribed "Anibal Caracci", pen and brown ink over traces of red chalk on laid paper, the verso rubbed with charcoal for transfer, several outlines reinforced with stylus, 28 x 41,8 cm, mounted, unframed,(Sch)

Provenance:
Collection Earl of Warwick (Lugt 2600);
Collection William Mayor (Lugt 2799);
anonymous stamp “C in a circle” (not with Lugt);
Collection Heseltine-Richter, auction “Dessins-Anciens E. A. Collections Helsetine-Richter”, Frederick Muller & Cie., Amsterdam 1913, No. 283, Fig. 39;
Collection Dr. Modern, Auction “Handzeichnungen, Aquarelle und Ölbilder alter und neuer Meister aus dem Nachlass des Herrn Dr. Modern und aus Wiener Privatbesitz “, Buch- und Kunstantiquariat Dr. Ignaz Schwarz, Vienna I, Habsburgergasse 3, 24th April 1918, p. 6, No. 40 with Ill.;
Collection Dr. Arthur Feldmann, Brünn; confiscated by the GESTAPO on 15.3.1939; in the Depot of the National Gallery, Prague; 1956 acquisition by the National Gallery, Prague; 2013 restituted to the heirs after Dr. Arthur Feldmann.

Literature: Compare: A. Brogi, “Francesco Brizio: il ‘paesare di penna’ e altre cose”, in: Studi di storia dell’arte”, No. 4, 1993, pp. 85–127, fig. 47.

The attribution to Francesco Brizio was confirmed by Babette Bohn, Catherine Loisel, Kate Ganz and Alessandro Brogi on the basis of a photograph.

According to latest research the drawing which was formerly attributed to Annibale Carracci is now considered a work by Francesco Brizio. Brizio was an early Baroque painter and etcher of the Bolognese school. A pupil of Bartolomeo Passerotti he changed to the workshop of Agostino and Ludovic Carracci. A thematically comparable drawing by Brizio which shows a concert on a balcony in front of a monumental architectural setting is preserved in the Bristish Museum (Inv. Nr. 1860–06–16–16). The London drawing is executed in pen and brown ink as well and is generally dated between 1529 and 1623. A study for a similar composition depicting Saint Charles Borromeo was sold through Sotheby’s in 1990. Two stylistically comparable drawings are kept in Christ Church Oxford (Cat. 922) and in the Victoria and Albert Museum (Dyce 1110–1887). The present sheet’s reverse which was rubbed with charcoal and the outlines of the sheet’s figures which were reinforced with a stylus may point to a preliminary design for an etching which was not executed.

Provenance:
Collection Earl of Warwick (Lugt 2600);
Collection William Mayor (Lugt 2799);
anonymous stamp “C in a circle” (not with Lugt);
Collection Heseltine-Richter, auction “Dessins-Anciens E. A. Collections Helsetine-Richter”, Frederick Muller & Cie., Amsterdam 1913, No. 283, Fig. 39;
Collection Dr. Modern, Auction “Handzeichnungen, Aquarelle und Ölbilder alter und neuer Meister aus dem Nachlass des Herrn Dr. Modern und aus Wiener Privatbesitz “, Buch- und Kunstantiquariat Dr. Ignaz Schwarz, Vienna I, Habsburgergasse 3, 24th April 1918, p. 6, No. 40 with Ill.;
Nationalgalerie Prague, Inv. DK 4620.

Literature: Compare: A. Brogi, “Francesco Brizio: il ‘paesare di penna’ e altre cose”, in: Studi di storia dell’arte”, No. 4, 1993, pp. 85–127, fig. 47.

The attribution to Francesco Brizio was confirmed by Babette Bohn, Catherine Loisel, Kate Ganz and Alessandro Brogi on the basis of a photograph.

According to latest research the drawing which was formerly attributed to Annibale Carracci is now considered a work by Francesco Brizio. Brizio was an early Baroque painter and etcher of the Bolognese school. A pupil of Bartolomeo Passerotti he changed to the workshop of Agostino and Ludovic Carracci. A thematically comparable drawing by Brizio which shows a concert on a balcony in front of a monumental architectural setting is preserved in the Bristish Museum (Inv. Nr. 1860–06–16–16). The London drawing is executed in pen and brown ink as well and is generally dated between 1529 and 1623. A study for a similar composition depicting Saint Charles Borromeo was sold through Sotheby’s in 1990. Two stylistically comparable drawings are kept in Christ Church Oxford (Cat. 922) and in the Victoria and Albert Museum (Dyce 1110–1887). The present sheet’s reverse which was rubbed with charcoal and the outlines of the sheet’s figures which were reinforced with a stylus may point to a preliminary design for an etching which was not executed.