Giuseppe Cesari, called Cavaliere d'Arpino

This attractive and elegant drawing of a standing, winged putto, executed in black and red chalk, does not directly relate to any of Arpino’s known decorations. Stylistically, it can be compared with a number of drawings dating from 1595-1600, including the Putto on a Cloud with a Banderole in the Uffizi, Florence,¹ one of the figures in the border framing the Finding of the She-Wolf in the Palazzo dei Conservatori, and with the Four flying putti in the same collection related to the decoration of the sacristy of the Certosa di San Martino at Naples.²Works like the present sheet no doubt influenced Arpino’s contemporaries and served as models for his own workshop to incorporate within grand fresco decorations.

The attribution to Cavaliere D’Arpino has been endorsed by Marco Simone Bolzoni, who kindly provided information on the drawing to the current owner.

1. Inv. 1533; M. Bolzoni, Il Cavalier Giuseppe Cesari d'Arpino, Maestro del disegno, Catalogo ragionato dell'opera grafica, Rome 2013, p. 271, cat. no. 130, reproduced

2. Ibid., p. 274, cat. no. 134, reproduced