(Campone d'Italia 1581-1662)
The presentation of the Virgin in the temple, pen and brown ink, over black chalk, brown wash, heightened with white, on bluish-grey paper, laid down on fine Japan paper, 36 x 25,5 cm, browned, somewhat stained, restored tears, unframed, (Sch)

Provenance:
Private collection, Italy.

The present drawing reproduces, with a few changes, the painting of the same subject by Pier Francesco Mazzucchelli, called il Morazzone (1573-1626), which the artist executed between 1611 and 1612 for the Cappella della Madonna della Cintura in the church of Sant' Agostino in Como. Bianchi was active in Turin from 1617 on and began his collaboration with Morazzone in 1623, which was a period that was groundbreaking for his further artistic development. The painting "Presentation of the Virgin in the Temple", which is the counterpart to the scene of the "Birth of Mary", is on the right side wall of the chapel and is part of a larger cycle of works that are among the most important from Morazzone's creative period in Como, where his presence is already documented for the year 1608. The drawing had long been considered a preparatory study for the painting in Como, until it could be identified as a copy after the work. The squaring in black chalk that lies below the drawing, as well as the numerous corrections and alterations to the outlines of the figures, such as the legs of the beggar in the foreground, indicate that the drawing was not made as a preparatory study for the painting but as a copy after it. Moreover, the deviations from the painting present on the sheet make it unlikely that it could be a copy after a lost drawing by Morazzone. These appear to be deliberately added changes to the painting, perhaps with the intention of modifying the subject depicted and then transferring it into a new pictorial work. The physiology of the faces, especially the profile of the kneeling Virgin, St Joseph and Anne, show similarities with Isidoro Bianchi's style. However, the possible collaboration between Bianchi and Morazzone could never be fully clarified, despite numerous references from historiography as well as formal affinities and compositional citations that can be found in the present drawings. Many scholars have suspected a relationship between the two artists due to Morazzone's presence in Como, which seems of great importance also for the genesis of the present drawing.
A stylistically comparable and signed drawing by Bianchi with a study of the "Presentation in the Temple" for the fresco cycle in the presbytery of the sanctuary of the church of Madonna della Rovana in Cevio (c. 1645) is in Windsor Castle (inv. no. RCIN 990292). Due to the great similarities in the type and faces of the figures and the stylistic similarities between the two sheets, an attribution of the drawing offered here is considered very probable. According to the opinion of Prof. Laura Facchin, the sheet is likely to date from the second or third decade of the 17th century and could therefore still have been created in Morazzone's workshop, but also shows stylistic features typical of Isidoro Bianchi.

We are grateful to Prof. Faura Facchin for the scientific support and for the confirmation of the attribution after having examined the original.