The motif of a kneeling monk, done on paper prepared with yellow wash, must have led to the earlier attribution to the Veronese artist Paolo Farinati (1524-1606). Farinati indeed used toned paper as supports for his drawings, as in Virgin and Child and two Saints appearing to Four Martyr Saints, Paris, Musée du Louvre, Département des Arts Graphiques (inv. no. 4822). However, the present drawing was sketched on Dutch paper, and the handling of the black chalk, with its summary contours and broad hatching, is close to such works by Jan de Bray as the Seated Clergyman (1666) in the Victor de Stuers collection, the Netherlands. Toned paper was also used by Jan for his authentic drawings, including Children Singing by Candlelight (1653) in the Germanisches Nationalmuseum, Nuremberg (inv. No. HZ 7185), apparently following the example of his father (cf. inv. no. RP-T-1954-200). A potential inspiration for that kind of studies – both in technique and in pathos – may have been given by Pieter Lastman (1585-1633), like De Bray a Catholic, who used prepared toned paper for his figure studies (cf. inv. no. RP-T-1983-457) and who probably adopted the technique in Italy. In contrast to the detailed figure drawings made for practice from live models (e.g. inv. nos. RP-T-1897-A-3363 and RP-T-1897-A-3364), the present study is a quickly sketched idea, possibly as a preliminary step towards a painted figure. Its final purpose may have been a painting of St Francis receiving the Stigmata, comparable to a painting by an anonymous Flemish artist, circa 1650, in the Museum Catharijneconvent, Utrecht (inv. no. BMH s611).
Annemarie Stefes, 2019
