This leaf is mounted on the same mat as the artist's "Warrior and Amazon" (Acc. No. 1978.42:1). Both are from the now dismembered album 10, which David began in 1774 when he made his first trip to Italy and is one of the artist's twelve "albums factices". He filled them mainly with rough studies of ancient art and copies of Italian paintings. There are four other drawings from album 10 in the Library's collection, two Roman landscapes (Acc. No. 1988.39:1-2), a portrait of Pauline Borghese (Acc. No. 1990.37), and an Alpine landscape (Acc. No. 1991.6).
Inscribed by the artist, at lower right, in black chalk, "a Venise a la librairie"; monogrammed by the artist's two sons Jules and Eugène at the time of the 1828 sale, at lower left, in pen and brown ink, "E.D./J.D.".
Watermark: Circle with three monti and bird inside, lower fragment.
David, Eugène, former owner.
David, Jules, former owner.
Chassegnolles, M., former owner.
Ludre, Marquise de, former owner.
Stampfle, Felice, former owner.
Ryskamp, Charles, ed. Nineteenth Report to the Fellows of the Pierpont Morgan Library, 1978-1980. New York : Pierpont Morgan Library, 1981, p. 186.
Denison, Cara, Myra Nan Rosenfeld, and Stephanie Wiles. Exploring Rome : Piranesi and His Contemporaries. New York : Pierpont Morgan Library; Montréal : Centre Canadien d'Architecture, 1993, no. 127, repr.