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Man smiling, seated before a painting on an easel depicting a man kneeling before a robed ass

Maker

(artist)
1674-1755

Title

Medium

black chalk, pen and brown ink on laid paper, with brown ink framing lines partly trimmed away, now laid down on Japanese tissue

Dimensions

Height: 28.6 cm
Width: 21.2 cm

Accession Number

D.1952.RW.3834

Mode of Acquisition

Robert Clermont Witt, bequest, 1952

Credit

The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)

Copyright

Work in the public domain

Location

Not currently on display

Keywords

Label Text

Ghezzi was the first professional caricaturist and produced thousands of drawings throughout his lifetime. Here he uses his customary schematic shading system, a manner similar to engraving. The subject of this drawing is enigmatic. It shows a portly figure seated at an easel laughing at a picture of a donkey, which is attired in ecclesiastical robes, crowning a man of learning with laurel. This may be intended as a double satire on connoisseurship. This sheet is one of a number of caricatures in the collection.

Provenance

Dr Carl Robert Rudolf, London (1884-1974); Leonard G. Duke, London (1890-1971); purchased from him by Colnaghi (London), 7 January 1946; purchased there by Sir Robert Witt, London (1872-1952), 11 September 1946, for £9; Witt Bequest 1952

Exhibition History

The Witt Collection - Four centuries of drawings, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 03/04/2004-20/06/2004

Carnivalesque, Edinburgh City Art Centre, Scotland, 21/10/2000-16/12/2000

Carnivalesque, Nottingham Castle Museum, Nottingham, England, 15/07/2000-10/09/2000 ...More

Carnivalesque, Brighton Museum and Art Gallery & Brighton & England, 06/05/2000-02/07/2000

Drawings by Guercino and other Baroque Masters, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 01/02/1977-01/03/1977 ...Less

Literature

Carnivalesque, Brighton Museum and Art Gallery; Castle Museum and Art Gallery, Nottingham; City Art Centre, Edinburgh, 2000 Hayward Gallery Publishing: London, 2000
no. 106

Inscriptions

Inscription: none.

Collector's mark: none.

Watermark: centre: circle containing bird floating above triple mount; above the circle is the letter "F" (variant of Heawood 166 - ?Holland, before 1724).

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