The Assumption of the Virgin
This valuable graphic proof is part of the rich corpus of known drawings by Sebastiano Galeotti, educated in Florence and then in Bologna. Having moved to Piacenza in 1710, Galeotti moved to various cities in Northern Italy, from Lodi to Milan to Genoa, and especially to Parma, starting from 1714. An ancient writing on the reverse of the sheet seems to indicate that the drawing was preparatory for the decoration of the dome in the oratory of the Beata Vergine delle Grazie (1714-1715), in Parma. The drawing could in fact be a first sketch for the Assumption of the Virgin in the dome, then varied during construction. Stylistically, the dating of the drawing must not differ much, in any case, from the years of creation of the fresco. The echo of the style of Alessandro Gherardini, Galeotti’s first master, is still perceptible in the glimpses of the figures, while the sense of perspective, the attention to the chromatic rendering of the drawing and the sensuality of the light reveal the imprint of the painter’s Bolognese education and Emilian stay.
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Artwork details
- Artist:
- Sebastiano Galeotti (Firenze, 1675 – Mondovì, Cuneo, 1741)
- Title:
- The Assumption of the Virgin
- Date:
- 1714-1715
- Medium and technique:
- Pen and thin watercolour on paper dyed light ocher on the recto
- Dimensions:
- mm 310 × 260
- Inventory:
- MD 2008.130.097
- Location
-
Location: Sozzani Collection, first floor
The Sozzani Collection, which entered the Museum in 2008 through a bequest, consists of more than one hundred drawings from different periods and schools, both Italian and foreign, particularly French. They span more than five centuries, from the late fifteenth to the twentieth century. This substantial collection of graphic works was assembled by the passionate collector Antonio Sozzani (Milan, 1918–2007), whose name is associated with the history of Milanese finance, on the advice of his friend Giovanni Testori, who provided its scholarly direction.
