Group of Angels carrying the Holy Cross
XVII century. Grey-brown wash, Pencil, Stylus, Squared-up on yellow laid paper.Not on display
The drawing depicts three young angels in flight carrying a wooden cross, from which ribbons hang. A child angel holds one of these ribbons. Several other angels and cherubs make up the rest of the composition.
Jonathan Brown hypothesised that the drawing was done in preparation for the painting on the inner part of the cupola of the chapel of the Siete Dolores in the church of Santo Tomás. According to Palomino, this painting exactly represented the Triumph of the Cross. This idea cannot be confirmed definitively, but in any case, it is a plausible hypothesis.
Pérez Sánchez, Alfonso E., Catálogo de Dibujos. Vol.I. Dibujos españoles siglos XV-XVII, Madrid, 1972, p.94-95
