Watermark: none.
Possibly connected with Cano's project for the facade of the Granada Cathedral, of which he was appointed architect in May 1667.
This drawing depicts the Virgin of Mercy in a trompe l'oeil architectural surround, with an eagle below. While its attribution to Cano has been questioned, the sheet may be connected to his design for the facade of Granada cathedral, a project only realized after his death. The Virgin of Mercy, who shelters the faithful under her cloak, is relatively uncommon in seventeenth-century Spanish art outside of Catalonia. Nevertheless, the drawing may have been intended as a modello for one of the cathedral's sculpted reliefs. --Exhibition Label, from "Visions and Nightmares: Four Centuries of Spanish Drawings"
Inscribed in pen and brown ink at lower left, "Alo [o superscript] Co [o superscript]".
Stirling Maxwell, William, Sir, 1818-1878, former owner.
Rorimer, James J. (James Joseph), Mrs., donor.
Ryskamp, Charles, ed. Seventeenth Report to the Fellows of the Pierpont Morgan Library, 1972-1974. New York : Pierpont Morgan Library, 1976, p. 157.