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Portrait of a Gentleman c.1750

Artist

Attributed to Andrea Torresani (c.1727-1760)

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Portrait of a Gentleman c.1750

Artist

Attributed to Andrea Torresani (c.1727-1760)

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Black chalk, on laid paper bearing a watermark ‘C.F’ in a scrolled cartouche; held in a gilt wood frame; entire 28 by 24 in; 71 x 61 cm

Provenance: Private Collection, England; Crispian Riley-Smith Fine Arts, 2007

An attribution to the little known Venetian 18th century artist Andrea Torresani has been recently suggested with comparison to a number of drawings by the artist in the Biblioteca Reale in Turin, Italy. In all the drawings Torresani uses black chalk, as in the work presented here, and all are half-length portraits adopting a similar pose with the hatching strikingly similar.

Torresani was an Italian painter active in Brescia and Venice. He was trained by Antonio Aureggio in Brescia and moved to Venice, and is known to have worked for Zaccharia Sagredo and Pietro Guarienti. Little is known generally about his life but it seems he joined the throng of artists that were drawn to Venice during the golden era of the 18th century in the hope of making a decent living from the wealthy inhabitants and visitors. Certainly this drawing demonstrates well his ability to capture a characterful realism and in doing so he surely stands out as a notable and competent portraitist even though he is an illusive artist from this period. It is recorded that he died tragically from a stroke, aged only thirty-three.