(Jativa 1591–1652 Naples)
A study of a dragon, pen and brown ink, on laid paper, 16,5 x 24,8 cm, inscribed “Salvator Rosa” and ”A. Carracci” in pen and brown ink, old mount, laid down on another laid paper, inscribed “Claudio Lorenese” in pen and brown ink on the reverse of the cardboard support, mounted, unframed, (Sch)

Provenance:
Collection Antonio Morassi (1893–1976), Milan, Lugt 143a; Collection Giancarlo Sestieri, Rome.

Litarature:
G. Finaldi, Jusepe de Ribera. The Drawings. Catalogue raisonné, Madrid 2016, Cat. 44, pp. 138–139; G. Finaldi, “Aspects of the Life and Work of Jusepe de Ribera, 1591–1652”, The Courtauld Institute of Art, London 1995, No 126; G. Sestieri, in: Civiltà del Seicento a Napoli, Exh.cat. Naples, Museo di Capodimonte, Vol. 2, Naples 1984, No 3.69.

The present study of a dragon by Jusepe de Ribera cannot be connected with a finished work by the artist. However, it could have been a detail study in preparation for a painting. With its batlike wings, the long neck, the curved tail and the two claws Ribera took up traditional descriptions of this figure in European literature and popular culture, according to which the dragon was mostly interpreted as the incarnation of the devil and the evil. The dragon cannot be found only in religious paintings, such as in depictions with Saint Michael, Saint Georges or Saint Margaret. The dragon is also present in numerous mythological themes, such as Perseus and Andromeda and Jason and the dragon. Ribera depicted the dragon in front of an empty background. Only a faint line in the background suggests vaguely the horizon of a mountain range in the far distance. Below the claws of the beast some parallel hatchings indicate some shadow. For the lack of further indications it is difficult to identify a possible function of the sheet. On the basis of stylistic features such as the consistent outlines and the zigzag- and parallel lines in the drawing, Finaldi suggests a dating of the sheet in the mid-1620s. Thus, he compares it with studies such as „Saint Jêrome, writing“ in the Musée du Louvre, Paris (Inv. 13709; Finaldi 2016, Cat. 31, pp. 116-118) or „Seated man, reading and two cherubim“ in The Courtauld Gallery, London (Inv. D.152.RW.367; Finaldi 2016, Cat. 43, pp. 136-137). Another depiction of a dragon can be found in the drawing „A soldier impaling a dragon with a spear“ by Ribera which is preserved in the Fine Arts Museum of San Francisco (Inv. 1963.24.610; Finaldi 2016, Cat. 78, pp. 212-213).