(1552–1614)
A portrait study of a child with a pearl necklace, red chalk on laid paper, 17,2 x 15 cm, mounted, framed, (Sch)

Provenance:
Collection Alfred Beurdeley (1847–1919), Paris, Lugt 421.

From the 1570s onwards Lavinia Fontana counted to the most important portait painters in Bologna. In contrast to the large number of painted portraits and studies of children only a few portrait drawings are existing today. The present study of a child is stylistically comparable with a series of of portrait studies in red and black by Lavinia Fontana which are kept in a drawings album in the Morgan Library & Museum, New York (Inv. 263862). The album comprises nineteen portrait studies, including a self portrait of the artist and portraits of her patrons and supporters in Bologna and Rome. The Gabinetto dei Disegni e delle Stampe degli Uffizi in Florence preserves a comparable portrait drawing of a child (Inv. 12190 F), which is supposed to be the only known study of a child by Lavinia Fotana. Although only few drawings have survived until today one can assume that the large numbers of painted portraits of children must have been prepared with numerous drawings. The present drawing can thus be included in the context of the known portrait drawings by the artist.

The attribution to Lavinia Fontana was suggested by Dr. Babette Bohn on the basis of a high resolution digital photograph.