(1452-1519), Study for the head of St. Anne, black chalk, on firm laid paper, the outlines perforated for transfer, the reverse rubbed with powdered black chalk, 20,9 x 16,7 cm, mounted, unframed, (Sch)

Provenance: According to an old label on the mount: collection Luigi Lanzi (1732-1810), Florence; Private Collection, Italy.

With a written confirmation by Dr. Nicholas Turner, Dr. Carmen Bambach and Prof. Paul Joannides.

Exhibited: Göteborg, Eriksbergshallen, And there was light: Michelangelo, Leonardo, Raphael. The Masters of Renaissance, seen in a new light, 20th March – 15th August 2010; Paris, Musee du Louvre, La Sainte Anne l'ultime chef d'oeuvre de Leonard da Vinci, 29th March – 24th June 2012.

Literature: The drawing is published and illustrated in: Exh. Kat. Paris, Musee du Louvre, 2012, La Sainte Anne l'ultime chef d'ouvre de Leonard da Vinci, Cat. 112, fig. 201. The present drawing was presumably executed by an artist of the near surrounding of Leonardo da Vinci. It may have been a drawing after a draft by Leonardo‘s for the painting "The virgin with her child and Saint Anne" from 1503-1519 (Musée du Louvre, Paris, Inv. 776). A similar study in red chalk for the head of Saint Anne attributed to a follower of Leonardo is preserved in the Galleria dell'Accademia, Venice (Gabinetto Disegni e Stampe, No. 270, Fig.1). This drawing is approximately of the same size as the present sheet and is also perforated along its outlines as well as rubbed with black chalk powder on the reverse. One can assume that our study was a preliminary drawing for a smaller version after Leonardo’s painting and may have been intended for a private patron.