Pier Leone Ghezzi
Here Ghezzi portrayed himself in fanciful costume, holding a caricature of himself wearing a cape. This humorous work is a self-portrait within a self-portrait, showing the whimsy of the artist, who is best known for his caricatures of Romans as well as notable visitors to the city. Ghezzi's two depictions of himself seem to stand facing one another, one pointing his finger at the other as if in conversation. -- Exhibition Label, from "Life Lines: Portrait Drawings from Dürer to Picasso."
Watermark: none visible through lining.
Inscribed on a piece of paper pasted below drawing, in pen and brown ink, "M. le Cher Ghezzi"; below this on mount, in pen and brown ink, "The draftsman of this collection"; numbered at upper right of mount, in pen and black ink, "31".
Goddard, Edward, former owner.
Goldstein, Max A. (Max Aaron), 1870-1941, former owner.
Scholz, János, former owner.
Italian Drawings from the Collection of Janos Scholz. London : Art Council Gallery, 1968, no. 43.
Ryskamp, Charles, ed. Twenty-First Report to the Fellows of the Pierpont Morgan Library, 1984-1986. New York : Pierpont Morgan Library, 1989, p. 342.