(Verona 1763–1835)
A set comprising 76 drawings on 38 sheets (recto und verso): figure sketches, compositional studies for scenes from the life and the Passion of Christ and scenes of martyrs, detail studies for hands and feet, pen and brown ink, brown wash, on laid paper, each approx. 26 x 17,7 cm, browned, stained, damaged (tears), (38), (Sch)

Provenance:
Private property, Italy.

Literature:
Donatella Biagi Maino, „Paolo Carliari o dell’Accademia. Un album di disegni ritrovato”, in: Studi in onore di Stefano Tumidei, pp. 483–491.

Paolo Caliari was born in Verona in 1763. He was the son of the book dealer and engraver Domenico Carliari, who made him familiar with the techniques of engraving. Paolo studied with Prospero Schiavi (1730–1803), who was one of the cofounders of the Venice Academy and a pupil of Giambettino Cignaroli (1706–1770). Shortly after finishing his education Paolo received the diploma which allowed him to teach. He received many academic awards at the beginning of his career, participated in several decorations in palaces and buildings of his town, executed altar- and devotional paintings and sometimes turned to portrait painting. He also dedicated himself to experimenting with various artistic techniques and studied and copied old master paintings. His capability to reproduce the style and technique of old master paintings caught the attention of the Austrian ambassador Marchese Maurizio Gherardini in Turin, who commissioned Caliari to copy a series of masters from the quattro- and cinquecento for the Prince of Carignano. Besides copying paintings Caliari also reproduced them with 40 drawings which are preserved in the town library of Verona today. They were commissioned by Giovanni Albarelli, a representative of the emerging bourgeoisie, in 1815. Albarelli had inherited a collection of eighty-one paintings, of which Caliari had to reproduce fourty works as drawings. The sheets were then bound in an album and eventually came into the town library with the title „Gabinetto di quadri o raccolta di pezzi originali esistenti in Verona presso il signor Gio. Albarelli disegnati da Paolo Caliari con illustrazioni. Verona MDCCCXV”. The album was published by Federico Dal Forno (F. Dal Forno, Paolo Caliari. La Pinacoteca Albarelli, Verona 1975) in 1975. It represents an important document of Verona’s artistic heritage at the turn to the 19th century and gives evidence of the engagement in the arts of the old masters and the reformation of religious painting in line with the restoration period of the time.

The present set of seventy-six drawings were attributed to Paolo Caliari by Prof. Donatella Biagi Maino and were published in her essay „Paolo Caliari o dell’Accademia. Un album di disegni ritrovato“ (in: Studi in onore di Stefano Tumidei, Fondazione Federico Zeri, Bologna 1996, pp. 483–491). The drawings show various religious and allegorical subjects, academic studies based on the antique model and detail studies of hands and extremities. Apart from mainly religious scenes from the life and the Passion of Christ, angels, saints and martyrs one can also find allegorical themes such as studies for Hercules and Prometheus. It is noteworthy that a single theme often recurs several times with slight variations and minor alterations until they seem to have arrived at a clear version of the subject. The sheets may have been executed by the artist for reasons of private stylistic practice or for educational purposes in his teaching lessons at the academy whose director he became in 1808.

In any case the present group of drawings is an important addition to the graphic work of Paolino Caliari and gives evidence of the great significance which the artist attached to the renewal of religious painting and to the engagement with Italian quattro- and cinquecento art.