GAUDENZIO FERRARI (CIRCLE OF)

(Valduggia circa 1475-1546 Milan) Christ on the Cross Surrounded by Saints, Angels and Soldiers. Pen and brown ink and wash over black chalk, hightened with white on grayish blue laid paper. 520x390 mm; 201/2x15 inches. This drawing appears to be a copy after Ferrari's monumental altarpiece of the same subject in the Galeria Sabauda, Turin. Even though it differs in many ways from the original: the figures are lenghtened, the position of Christ on the cross is raised to appear above the crowd and the angel to his left is completely altered. The draftsman's main interest in the current work is focused on the articulation of the drapery of the figures in the foreground. The quality and the technique suggest an artist in the close circle of Ferrari (circa 1475-1546), possibly Gerolamo Giovenone. For a comparison, see G. Romano, Gaudenzio Ferrari e la sua scuola, Turin, Accademia Albertina di Belle Arti, 1982, nos. 9-16.