AFTER UBALDO GANDOLFI (ITALIAN 1728-1781)
Study of Cain and Abel
red chalk on buff paper
30.2 x 43 cm

unidentified watermark

The drawing represents the biblical scene of the murder of Abel and points out the physicality of the characters. During the second half of the 17th century, Ubaldo Gandolfi was one of the main leading figures of Accademia Clementina whose main purposes were the practice of drawing and the study of human male and female nude. The Pinacoteca Nazionale di Bologna (National Gallery) possess a similar subject Cain runs away after the killing of Abel (Artisti Italiani 1977, n.108, fig. 108, n. 3785). The drawings preserved in Bologna and Reggio Emilia, (the drawings) 'can be ascribed to Ubaldo Gandolfi, because of the high quality and the skilful use of lights and shadows'. (A. Bigi Iotti, 2016)