Young Angels
1782. White chalk, Black chalk on dark toned paper.Not on display
This is a preparatory drawing for two figures: one in the central part and the other in the lower-central part of the fresco The Death of Saint Casilda in the cloister of Toledo Cathedral. The Cathedral keeps a preparatory sketch, which was ultimately not used by the painter. The Museo del Prado also keeps other related drawings for the same sketch.
The figure on the left is depicted standing and facing forwards with his head down. He is naked and only covered in the central part by a piece of cloth. In the sketch, he is holding another figure. The figure on the right is kneeling on a cloud, turning to the left of the drawing and joining his hands in prayer. For this last figure, there is another half-length drawing (D000469), which was attributed to Maella together with the sketch in Toledo Cathedral, but it is kept among other drawings that are that are certainly by Francisco Bayeu in the Museo del Prado.
Arnáez, Rocío, Catálogo de Dibujos II. Dibujos españoles siglo XVIII. A-B, Madrid, 1975, p.84
