(Modena 1540/44-1618 Rome)
A scene in a palace from the Old Testament, presumably an illustration for the „Book of Esther“, pen and brown ink , brown wash, on laid paper, in der unteren rechten Ecke numbered "63" at the lower right corner, laid down on later laid paper, 22,4 x 16,4 cm, mounted, unframed, (Sch)

The attribution to Giovanni Guerra was suggested by Dr. Rhoda Eitel-Porter on the basis of a digital high resolution photograph. The drawing may have been excuted in the context with an illustration for the „Book of Esther“. Comparable drawings from the same cycle, which are identical in format and technique, are preserved in the Ashmoelan Museum, Oxford (Inv. WA 1947.189 and 190), the Louvre (Inv. 10559) and the British Museum (Inv. 1975,0517.1 and 1975,0517.2; J. A. Gere und P. Pouncey, Italian drawings in the department of prints and drawings in the British Museum: Artists working in Rome: c. 1550 to c. 1640, London 1983, No. 191-2, fig.181). A comparable studied from the same cycle was sold at Christie’s 7th December 2016 (lot 2) in London.
Like the present drawing all sheets of the cycle are numbered at the lower right corner and elaborately inscribed on the reverse. The present scene is similarly depicted in a palace interior as in the other studies. Due tomits stilistic and formal congruences one can attribute the present drawing to Giovanni Guerra.