Saint Gregory the Great
1620 - 1634. Grey-brown wash, Squared-up, Black chalk, White lead on paper attached to canvas, laid paper.Not on display
This drawing belongs to a set of five different drawings of Saint Gregory the Great that are divided among the Museo del Prado (D84 and D5989) and the National Library in addition to one that appeared on the Parisian art market. It is difficult to determine which one of them can be considered the head of the series, mostly because none of them display the high technical quality of Saint Augustine (D2108). The first sketch (D5989) – not yet gridded – is followed by this other example in which the figure is already perfectly completed. Although it is a beautiful drawing, the manner of applying both the wash and white lead is somewhat clumsy and lacks the care and delicacy apparent in Saint Augustine (D2108).
The grid was made before the application of the white lead. The placement of the grid on a drawing was typically employed by apprentices or copyists. The majority of Vicente Carducho’s drawings are gridded. Although this fact is generally associated with the immediate transfer from sketch to canvas, it is likely that its presence in this drawing is better understood as part of the training process and the daily work in his studio.
Pascual Chenel, Á.; Rodríguez Rebollo, A., Vicente Carducho. Dibujos Catálogo razonado, Madrid, Biblioteca Nacional de España - Centro de Estudios Europa Hispánica, 2015, p.153-165 [153,163 n.27.2]
