St. Benedict enthroned, accompanied by St. John the Baptist and St, Luke and a monk
XVI century. Wash, Grey-brown ink, Pencil, Pencil ground on paper.Not on display
This drawing is connected with Cambiaso´s altarpiece of St. Benedict enthroned between Saints John the Baptist and Luke, commissioned by Luca Spinola in 1562 for the family chapel in the now demolished church of S. Caterina dei Monaci Regolari di S. Benedetto, and presently located over the altar of the Cappella Lercari in the cathedral of S. Lorenzo, Genoa.
An identical composition to that of this drawing occurs in two other studio drawings, likewise in pen and wash, one in the Louvre (inv. no. 9288) and the other in the Accademia, Venice (inv. no. 355). The Prado, Louvre, and Venice drawings appear to document and intermediate phase in the design of the Genoa altarpiece, postdating that know from the preparatory drawing by Cambiaso himself, formerly in the Suida Manning Collection, New York, and now in the Jack S. Blanton Museum of Art, the University of Texas, Austin.
Turner, Nicholas, From Michelangelo to Annibale Carracc: a century of Italian drawings from the Prado, Virginia, Art Services International, 2008, p.254
