ii Study of the Virgin*
Studies of the Virgin and of
Hands"
Brush and brown wash, white gouache heightening, and
black chalk on faded blue-gray paper; H: 25 cm (9% in.);
W: i8.7cm(7^3 /8in.)
Sy.GG.S (SEE PLATE i)
MARKS AND INSCRIPTIONS: (Recto) at bottom left cor-
ner, collection mark of N. Dhikeos; at bottom right cor-
ner, inscribed Scuolo Fiorentina Antica in brown ink;
(verso) collection mark of N. Dhikeos; inscribed S. F.
n°:22 in brown ink.
PROVENANCE: Sagredo collection(P), Venice; de Bois-
sieu collection, Lyons; N. Dhikeos, Lyons; art market,
New York.
EXHIBITIONS: None.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: None.
THE STUDY OF THE KNEELING VIRGIN ON THE RECTO
was made as a preparatory study for a painting, the Ad-
oration of the Christ Child, dated 1505 (Lisbon, Fundagao
Calouste Gulbenkian). Although she is shown in the
drawing with a veil on her head that becomes an en-
twined scarf in the painting, the two figures are so similar
as to make the relationship quite certain. A full compo-
sitional study for the painting in the Uffizi (inv. 1692 F)
shows the Virgin in the same pose but with yet another
headdress.
The various forms on the verso are more difficult to
connect precisely with a single painting. The represen-
tation of the Virgin and the hands directly below her may
be related to the Virgin and Child with Two Saints in the
Samuel H. Kress Collection, University of Arizona,
Tucson, but are almost equally close to the correspond-
ing figure in the altarpiece in the Chiesa Parrochiale, Poz-
zale di Cadore. The former painting is undated but gen-
erally put circa 1515, whereas the latter is datable to 1519.
It is possible that Carpaccio once again used a drawing on
at least two occasions.
The study of a hand at the bottom left of the verso
fits within this chronology, since it is most similar to the
hand of Saint Peter Martyr on a panel depicting him in
the Samuel H. Kress Collection, Philbrook Art Center,
Tulsa, painted circa 1510-15.
Stylistically, this sheet demonstrates Carpaccio's
fully developed brush technique with a rich, painterly
approach to form and brilliant effects of light.CARPACCIO • ITALIAN SCHOOL 4!