école italienne

Description

The present drawing is related to the group of studies executed after models in religious habits that were produced at the French Academy in Rome in 1732. The model and the drapery in our drawing are the same as those drawn by Pierre Subleyras in his famous study Prêtre vu de face in the Louvre Museum (inv. INV.32959). The present drawing was certainly executed during the same session as the sheet by Subleyras, indeed the artist of our sheet appears to have been positioned just to the right of Subleyras. Despite the known context of its execution, the sheet remains difficult to attribute because no drawings by other known residents of the French Academy such as Boizot, Francin, Bernardt, Ronchi, and Adam, are known today (see N. Lesur, Pierre Subleyras 1699-1749, Paris, 2023, p. 276).