Sirani - Head of a Youth

ELISABETTA SIRANI

1638 — Bologna — 1665

Head of a Youth

red, black, brown, & blue chalks with white chalk heightening. 125/8 x 9 3/16 (320 x 235mm). inscribed in graphite, l/r: Sirani.

provenance:

private collection, NY.

This head of a beautiful youth in colored chalks is very unusual in Sirani's oeuvre but not unique. Another comparable study, though thought to be retouched in the 18th c.,1 is housed at the Uffizi in the Gabinetto dei Disegni.2 Both drawings employ red and black chalks (which is typical for the artist) and some blue in the background, though in ours the blue is soft, subdued and in keeping with the rest while in the Uffizi sheet, it is abruptly applied as an after-thought even overlapping the hair to ill effect.3 In both drawings, Sirani seems to have employed a stumping technique in the hair, but both drawings appear to suffer from condition problems which might have occured, in the case of our drawing, when the sheet was laid down. While the Uffizi sheet may or may not have been retouched, our drawing certainly has not been. The quality of the drawing remains high, never degraded by later interference .4

The sitter is both striking and alluring. The active intelligence of the youth is revealed by his focused attention to something or someone outside the picture plane. He is neither self-absorbed nor lost to some religious conviction. Rather his head is held high and a faint smile is almost visible on his lips. This is the kind of delicately drawn portraiture that one might expect of a "student" of the Divine Guido, as is a delicate red & chalk self-portrait by Sirani, now in a Geneva Collection5 and another red & black chalk drawing at Nasjonalgalleriet in Oslo which was pointed out to me by Dr. Bohn.

Dr. Bohn has kindly confirmed the attribution of the present drawing to Sirani.6

1
As disclosed to me in conversation with Babette Bohn in December of 2007 in NY.
2
Inventory # 6299F. See part of the article by Marzia Faietti, L'Arte della Memoria: I Ritratti, pp. 200-201, illus. fig.47, in the exhibition catalogue by Jadrinka Bentini & Vera Fortunati, Elisabetta Sirani pittrice eroina 1638-1665, Bologna, 2004.
3
It is thought by Marzia Faietti that it was applied in the 18th c., along with the yellow chalk in the hair and the brown ink applied with a pen & brush to the face. However, after talking with Marjorie Shelley who is very familiar w the use of colored chalks in Italian drawings, she and I think this is not the case, that these colors are fully consistent with the time and place of use. Furthermore, our drawing would confirm this position. I however, have no opinion as to the date of the pen & ink used in the Uffizi sheet.
4
As confirmed by Babette Bohn, there is no reason to assume that the colored chalks in our drawing are later additions.
5
Published on the cover of Master Drawings, vol. 42, number 3, 2004, with the lead article by Babette Bohn, Elisabetta Sirani and Drawing Practices in Early Modern Bologna, pp 207 -236.
6
In an e-mail of January 2, 2008, having considered a photo and after seeing the original.

1	As disclosed to me in conversation with Babette Bohn in December of 2007 in NY.
2	Inventory # 6299F. See part of the article by Marzia Faietti, L'Arte della Memoria: I Ritratti, pp. 200-201, illus. fig.47, in the exhibition catalogue by Jadrinka Bentini & Vera Fortunati, Elisabetta Sirani pittrice eroina 1638-1665, Bologna, 2004.
3	It is thought by Marzia Faietti that it was applied in the 18th c., along with the yellow chalk in the hair and the brown ink applied with a pen & brush to the face. However, after talking with Marjorie Shelley who is very familiar w the use of colored chalks in Italian drawings, she and I think this is not the case, that these colors are fully consistent with the time and place of use. Furthermore, our drawing would confirm this position. I however, have no opinion as to the date of the pen & ink used in the Uffizi sheet.
4	As confirmed by Babette Bohn, there is no reason to assume that the colored chalks in our drawing are later additions.
5	Published on the cover of Master Drawings, vol. 42, number 3, 2004, with the lead article by Babette Bohn, Elisabetta Sirani and Drawing Practices in Early Modern Bologna, pp 207 -236.
6	In an e-mail of January 2, 2008, having considered a photo and after seeing the original.