Francesco Villamena

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Francesco Villamena
ca. 1566-1624
Study of Bearded Man Standing with Cloak Wrapped About Him
Pen and brown ink, with brown and gray-brown wash, on paper.
11 x 6 3/4 inches (279 x 171 mm)
Purchased by Pierpont Morgan (1837-1913) in 1909.
I, 76
Notes: 

As noted by Felice Stampfle (undated note in departmental file) and independently by H. Lee Bimm (letter to Museum, 23 June 2000) the drawing relates, in reverse, to one of a series of six of Villamena's engravings of similar so-called "low-life" subjects (Charles LeBlanc, Manuel de l'amateur d'estampes, 1854-90 [reprint, Amsterdam, 1971], II, p. 125, no. 65).

Inscription: 

Watermark: Arms of Amsterdam.

Provenance: 
Unidentified collector's mark, superimposed letters in pen and brown ink; Charles Fairfax Murray (1849-1919), London and Florence; from whom purchased through Galerie Alexandre Imbert, Rome, in 1909 by Pierpont Morgan (1837-1913), New York (no mark; see Lugt 1509); his son, J. P. Morgan, Jr. (1867-1943), New York.
Watermark: 
Associated names: 

Anonymous, Italian School, 18th cent., Formerly attributed to.
Murray, Charles Fairfax, 1849-1919, former owner.
Morgan, J. Pierpont (John Pierpont), 1837-1913, former owner.

Bibliography: 

Collection J. Pierpont Morgan : Drawings by the Old Masters Formed by C. Fairfax Murray. London : Privately printed, 1905-1912, I, 76, repr. (as "A Beggar," attributed to "Villamena?")

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