The drawings in this lot were originally part of an album most likely assembled in the 17th Century. Many drawings were removed from the album before the series was numbered in black ink. The other sheets, still pasted onto the album pages, were offered for sale at Christie’s in 1980. Including works by Jusepe Ribera, Federico Zuccaro and Federico Barocci, the majority consisted of head studies by the Cavaliere d'Arpino and by artists from his circle. The Head of a man in profile(i), quickly sketched in brown ink, is an autograph work by the artist. Arpino very rarely used pen and ink for his drawings, his favorite medium being chalk. It is possible however to compare this sketch with another small study of a male head in profile in private collection (Bolzoni, op. cit., no. 141, ill.). The Portrait of Count Camillo Borello is to be attributed to an artist from the circle of Arpino. For the Portrait of a man in a fur-lined coatHerwarth Röttgen, has proposed a possible attribution to Giuseppe Cesari (Röttgen, op. cit., no. 76).

We are grateful to Marco Simone Bolzoni for his assistance in cataloguing this lot and confirming the attribution to Giuseppe Cesari of the first drawing in this lot.