Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, called Guercino
(Italian, 1591–1666)
The Triumph of Galatea, 1620s
Pen and brown ink, brown wash, squared in black chalk
Private collection
In Mariette’s time, enhancing the appearance of a fragmentary drawing was considered helpful to the viewer rather than detrimental to the authenticity of a sheet. As with fragments of antique sculptures, master drawings were restored to evoke their original appearance. Mariette was extremely skilled in these restorations, and his additions are often difficult to discern. Only the aging of the glue makes them visible today. Along the upper edge of this sheet, the collector added a horizontal strip of paper upon which he sketched the missing portion of the heads of the three flying putti.