Study of Boy's Head; the Queen of Sheba Before Solomon.

Antonio Vassilacchi (called "Il Aliense")

1580–94 · Black and red chalk, partly highlighted with white chalk, on blue paper · Drawings and Prints

The author of this well-preserved sheet has recently been identified as the Greek-born Italian painter Vassilacchi, whose nickname, Il Aliense, means "the alien" or "the foreigner." The studies on the lower half, depicting the Queen of Sheba listening to the wisdom of King Solomon, can be connected to the background scene in the artist’s monumental Christ Disputing the Doctors (1593–94) in the church of San Pietro, in Perugia. The large naturalistic rendering of a boy’s head looking down was probably the first motif to be drawn, softly modeled in black chalk with a few strokes of red on the lips. The juxtaposition of the two studies, which gives the sheet a somewhat unusual appearance, is no doubt the result of its having come from a sketchbook.

Artist

Antonio Vassilacchi (called "Il Aliense")

Date

1580–94

Medium

Black and red chalk, partly highlighted with white chalk, on blue paper

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

Rogers Fund, 1908