PSEUDO-GHERARDI (fl. 17th Century)

 
 
STUDIES OF HEADS AND TORSOS
 
 
Pen & ink heightened with white on blue-grey laid paper
15.5 x 25.5 cm
 
 
PROVENANCE
Private collection, Milan
 
 
 
 
 
 
The present work bears all the hallmarks of the wonderfully idiosyncratic draughtsman called ‘Pseudo-Gherardi’, about whom next to nothing is known beyond a small group of drawings attributed to him. All of these contain the same combination of frenetic penmanship and distinctive heightening in white throughout, with the majority being figure and anatomical studies. Examples of the artist's work are held principally by the Museum of Fine Arts in San Francisco and the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge.