42 - Attributed to Andrea SACCHI (1599–1661)

Attributed to Andrea SACCHI (1599–1661) The Vision of Saint Bonaventure, ca. 1636 Red chalk. 26 x 19.3 cm Annotated in the lower left corner in pen and brown ink: “Andrea Sacco delineavit”; numbered in red chalk in the lower right corner: “119.” Glued directly onto an 18th-century French mounting. Provenance: Former Genevosio Collection (Turin, 1719–1795); his seal in the lower right corner (Lugt 6227). Related work: Painting commissioned by Cardinal Antonio Barberini and painted in 1636 for the new Capuchin church, Santa Maria della Concezione, in Rome. Cardinal Barberini owned a copy (now lost). A study for the figure of Saint Bonaventure (Holkham Hall, Norfolk). A copy of the composition painted in red chalk (Düsseldorf, Harris and Schaar, no. 115). There are numerous variations from the final painting, the main one being the absence of an angel figure to the left of Saint Bonaventure. In her monograph on the artist (Andrea Sacchi, *Complete Edition of the Paintings with a Critical Catalog*, Princeton University Press, 1977, Oxford, no. 45, plate 76), Ann Sutherland Harris describes the work’s creation in several phases: a commission around 1631–1633, with Sacchi’s work on the painting likely interrupted during a trip to northern Italy in 1635–36. The church was consecrated on August 31, 1636, and Sacchi resumed work in June 1636, assisted by his students. One of them, Gagliardi, was an expert in architecture and handled the perspective. Another student took charge of the secondary figures, such as the cherubs and decorative elements—likely Carlo Magnone. Based on the photograph, it appears there is a correction in the drapery of Saint Bonaventure’s robe, with the second angel on the left seeming to have been added on top. By inference, we can assume that this drawing depicts a stage prior to that change. The highly finished appearance of this drawing is reminiscent of a preparatory sheet for an engraving, *The Allegory of the Catholic Church Triumphing over Heresy* (Leningrad, op. cit., no. 173, plate 174). One possible explanation is that this drawing was left with his assistants so that they could continue work on the painting during his absence in 1635–36.