Head for the Figure of an Angel
1781. White chalk, Red chalk on brown paper.Not on display
This is a preparatory drawing for the head of the angel accompanying the Virgin in the lower-central part of the cupola fresco Regina Prophetarum, painted in 1781 and located in the nave on the right of the Holy Chapel of the Basilica of the Pilar in Zaragoza. The Museo Diocesano in Zaragoza keeps two preparatory sketches, one of them in grisaille. The Museo del Prado also keeps several preparatory drawings for the fresco.
The figure is depicted from the front, with his gaze fixed straight ahead. The hairstyle is barely sketched. The Museo del Prado keeps the preparatory drawing (D000616) intended for the angel figure on the left.
Arnáez, Rocío, Catálogo de Dibujos II. Dibujos españoles siglo XVIII. A-B, Madrid, 1975, p.84
