Studies of putti and drapery

This large sheet contains preparatory sketches for two angels in the fresco with the Triumph of the Cross painted by Carlo Maratti in 1655-1657 in the cupola of the Ludovisi chapel in the church of Sant’Isidoro in Rome (fig. 1; Rudolph and Prosperi Valenti Rodinò, op. cit., no. 32 I, ill.). Two other preparatory drawings for this decoration are known: a project for the entire cupola sold in these rooms in 2019 (Christie’s, London, 5 December 2019, lot 61) and a sheet of studies in the Museum der KunstPalast in Düsseldorf (inv. KA(FP) 12494; see ibid., no. 31.I.2, ill.).

Fig. 1. Carlo Maratti, The Triumph of the Cross. Church of Sant’Isidoro, Rome.