The Virgin Immaculate Appearing to Four Saints

Ciro Ferri

1634–89 · Black chalk; squared in black chalk · Drawings and Prints

The monastic saints kneeling at the right of this composition may be Carmelites (possibly Saint Angelus of Jerusalem and Saint Mary Magdalen de' Pazzi), and the drawing could be a study for an oval relief. Ciro Ferri was responsible for the design of the choir of the church of Santa Maria Maddalena de' Pazzi in Florence, which he executed 1675–1701; however, no such composition occurs among the reliefs here. A black chalk drawing by Ferri in the Kunstmuseum, Düsseldorf (inv. vol. 2, g 2), is a study for the same oval relief: the figures are posed in the same way, but there is a greater expanse of landscape background seen beyond the balustrade. On a visit to the Museum, Jörg Merz (December 2004) tentatively proposed the attribution of the drawing to Pietro Lucatelli (ca. 1630- after 1690), a close pupil of Ciro Ferri.

Artist

Ciro Ferri

Date

1634–89

Medium

Black chalk; squared in black chalk

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

Rogers Fund, 1962