(1590-1650)
Römische Statue des Flussgottes Nil, pen and black ink, grey wash, auf laid paper mit watermark "Wappenschild", am Unterrand bezeichent "..3 FB", 13,5 x 21,5 cm, leicht browned, somewhat stained, mounted, framed, (Sch)

Provenance:
Private collection, Germany.

The present drawing goes back to an etching by Francois Perrier showing the statue of a river god. The print was part of the series "Segmenta nobilium sinorum et statuarum” comprising 101 etchings with depictions of various Roman monuments, statues, palaces and gardens published in 1638. Perrier’s book was the by then the first hardback edition with illustrations of famous antique statues of Rome, which by the end of the 17th century and due to its grand success was followed by five further editions. The present depiction of a river god reproduces the original appearance with the remains of the small putti on shoulders and legs of the river Nilus after the sculpture had been detected and prior to the restoration by Gaspare Sbilla in 1770. The drawing appears mirror-inverted to the etching by Perrier and may have been executed in reverse direction after a copy of the print in the 18th century. So far the only known drawing by Perrier after the sculpture in Rome, which he executed in connection with his series of etchings is kept in the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Orleans (Inv. Nr. 1009A; black chalk, heightened with white, 25 x 37,7 cm). Vgl. Alvin L. Clark, "Francois Perrier as a Draftsman", in: Master Drawings, Vol. 38, Nr. 2, 2000, p. 124-138, Fig. 10.