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PELAGIO PALAGI (Bologna 1775 - Turin 1860) A NEOCLASSICAL ALLEGORY CELEBRATING NAPOLEON
Pen and black ink, lightly heightened with white chalk on ivory paper; 195 x 280 mm. Inscribed in pen on the verso 'H. De Supervilles'. Partial, unidentified, collector's mark.
Despite the old attribution, the drawing is, with all evidence, a work by Pelagio Palagi in his early years (approximatly within the first decade of the 19th century). The drawing, much probably made for a relief, can be compared with the 'Piedistallo per la statua di Napoleone Bonaparte' in the Archiginnasio, Bologna. See
Cristina Bersani, 'La scultura monumentale e decorativa nei progetti di Pelagio Palagi', in 'L'ombra di Core, Disegni dal fondo Palagi della biblioteca dell'Archiginnasio', Bologna, 1989; no. 155, illustrated.

Architect, portrait painter, furniture designer and collector, Pelagio Palagi at the age of twenty was collaborating with Antonio Basoli, in Bologna. With Felice Giani he frequented the nocturnal drawing sessions at the house of the engraver Francesco Rosaspina. In 1802 he studied at the Bolognese Accademia. Pelagio Palagi moved to Rome in 1806, continuing his studies at the Accademia di San Luca under Camuccini. In 1815 he moved to Milan, where he remained until 1832. There, he established a private school of painting and architecture and was elected to the Brera Academy. Palagi was called to Turin in 1832 by King Carlo Alberto to direct the decoration of the royal residences. At the monarch's death he worked for his son, Vittorio Emanuele II.