Mattia Jona, Master Drawings and Prints, Japanese Prints - Piazzetta Guastalla 5, 20122 Milan, Italy, tel (+39) 02 8053315

Attributed to GIUSEPPE CESARI called IL CAVALIER D'ARPINO (Arpino 1568 - Rome 1640) A SEATED MALE SAINT (ST. AMBROSE)
Black chalk, heightened with white chalk, on grey paper; 248 x 196 mm. Inscribed on recto 'apea a...', and on the verso 'in paolo'.
The drawing is closely related to the figure of St. Ambrose in the Cavalier d'Arpino's ceiling in the Cappella Olgiati, Santa Prassede, Rome, ca. 1595. The ceiling fresco, representing the Ascension of Christ, had been commissioned to the Cavalier d'Arpino by Bernardo Olgiati. See Herwarth Röttgen, 'Il Cavalier d’Arpino', exhibition catalogue, Rome, 1973; pages 29-31 and illustration facing page 26.

A precocious talent, Giuseppe Cesari was apprenticed, in Rome, to Niccolò Pomarancio. Cesari became a member of the Accademia di San Luca in 1585. From 1592, the artist was the principal painter to Pope Clement VIII in Rome, and received prestigious commissions from other members of the papal family as well. In addition to his many large fresco cycles and altarpieces, Cesari specialized in painting small pictures for private patrons. His works combined a new classical ideal with the graceful elegance of the maniera. Cesari's principal studio assistant was his brother Bernardino (1571-1622). His only direct followers were his sons Muzio (1619-1676) and Bernardino (d. 1703), although numerous artists, including Caravaggio, studied with him and admired his work.