Modesty
1781. White chalk, Pencil on green paper.Not on display
This is a grided pencil drawing depicting an allegorical female figure seated on a cloud. The figure is facing forwards and is holding a sceptre with an eye at the top.
It is a preparatory drawing for the corresponding figure on a pendentive of the cupola in front of the Chapel of Santiago del Pilar in Zaragoza, intended for the Marian devotion Regina Virginum and painted in 1781. In addition to Modesty (D000544), Innocence (D000542), Abstinence (D000538) and Virginity (D000540) for the pendentives of the cupola, the Museo del Prado keeps two other drawings for the cupola Regina Virginum in the Chapel of Santiago: Head of Saint Barbara (D000407) and Female Head (D000482).
The Museo Diocesano in Zaragoza keeps the sketch.
Arnáez, Rocío, Catálogo de Dibujos II. Dibujos españoles siglo XVIII. A-B, Madrid, 1975, p.148