Download image:
Paolo De Matteis
1662-1728
Virgin and Child Trampling on a Dragon
Pen and brown ink and gray wash with red chalk on blue paper.
16 x 10 7/8 inches (407 x 276 mm)
The Joseph F. McCrindle Collection.
2009.208
Inscription:
Inscribed at lower left in pen and brown ink: "Paolo de Matteis".
Provenance:
Arthur Sambon, French (1867-1947) (Lugt 175a); P. & D. Colnaghi & Co. Ltd., London; from which acquired by Joseph F. McCrindle, New York, 17 August 1966 (McCrindle collection no. A0668).
Summary:
This tender depiction of the Virgin and Child stamping on the head of a dragon is typical of De Matteis's soft drawing style. His elegant paintings and drawings transitioned away from the drama of the Baroque, which had dominated southern Italy though the work of Luca Giordano (1634-1705), to a more gentle mode of representation that would be continued by Francesco Solimena (1657-1747). The quatrefoil shape of the compositional frame suggests that this drawing was a preparatory sketch for a ceiling panel, although no painting that follows the drawing's design is known.
Associated names:
Sambon, Arthur, b. 1867, former owner.
McCrindle, Joseph F., former owner.
Catalog link:
Artist page:
School:
Century:
Classification:
Department: