Code: 10128
Dimensions:
CRISTOFORO RONCALLI, called IL POMARANCIO
Pomarance near Volterra 1553 – Rome 1626
A Soldier Holding a Lance.
Drawing in black chalk, lightly squared for transfer; in fine condition. Our drawing is a study for the figure of the soldier holding a lance at the right of the fresco of the Martyrdom of Saint Paul in the Church of Santa Maria in Aracoeli, capella Della Valle, circa 1590.
Pomarancio’s earliest work of note was an altarpiece for the Cathedral in Siena and a fresco for the palace of Ippolito Agostini, his then patron. By 1587 Pomarancio had moved to Rome, then the center of Church patronage in Italy.
In his work in Rome at the end of the century Pomarancio combined the realism of the Carracci and Caravaggio with the late mannerism of Cavaliere d’Arpino. This eclecticism satisfied both the need for powerful realism and the aristocratic-ecclesiastical taste in representations of sacred subject matter.
Pomarancio was a very considerable draftsman whose careful preparations reflect a deep attachment to his Florentine roots even as he sought to compete in the very active ambient of Roman art at the end of the 16th century.
266 x 120 mm 10 7/16 x 4 ¾ inches
Note: Ileana Chiappini di Sorio, Roncalli, 1983, page 155, number 4, Martirio del Santo.
