id: 160884 accession number: 1999.172 share license status: CC0 url: https://clevelandart.org/art/1999.172 updated: 2023-08-23 23:46:21.378000 Portrait of a Lady with an Elaborate Cartouche, 1785. Giuseppe Cades (Italian, 1750–1799). Red chalk over graphite (portrait), pen and black ink and watercolor over graphite (surround), circular framing line in graphite; image: 36 x 35.9 cm (14 3/16 x 14 1/8 in.); secondary support: 39.1 x 38.7 cm (15 3/8 x 15 1/4 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, John L. Severance Fund 1999.172 title: Portrait of a Lady with an Elaborate Cartouche title in original language: series: series in original language: creation date: 1785 creation date earliest: 1785 creation date latest: 1785 current location: creditline: John L. Severance Fund copyright: --- culture: Italy, Rome, 18th century technique: Red chalk over graphite (portrait), pen and black ink and watercolor over graphite (surround), circular framing line in graphite department: Drawings collection: DR - Italian type: Drawing find spot: catalogue raisonne: --- CREATORS * Giuseppe Cades (Italian, 1750–1799) - artist --- measurements: Image: 36 x 35.9 cm (14 3/16 x 14 1/8 in.); Secondary Support: 39.1 x 38.7 cm (15 3/8 x 15 1/4 in.) state of the work: edition of the work: support materials: description: cream laid paper laid down on cream laid paper (with blue modern laid paper and strip gold leaf added as decorative mount to primary or secondary support) watermarks: inscriptions: inscription: by artist, center, around portrait, in red chalk: cata cssa de [illegible] aets. 3[2?] ad. 1785. translation: remark: --- CURRENT EXHIBITIONS title: Master Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art opening date: 2000-08-27T00:00:00 Master Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 27-October 17, 2000); The Morgan Library & Museum, New York, NY (May 23-August 19, 2001); Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Houston, TX (October 14, 2001-January 6, 2002). --- LEGACY EXHIBITIONS * Exhibition of Old Master Drawings. P.&D. Colnaghi, London (April 29 - May 30 1952). --- PROVENANCE Archibald George Blomefield Russell [1879-1955], London, (Lugt 2770a). date: ?-1952 footnotes: citations: (Exhibited at P. & D. Colnaghi, London, April 29-May 30 1952, cat. no. 43 (as Augustin de St. Aubin).) date: 1952 footnotes: citations: (Christie's, London, December 11-13, 1985, no. 183.) date: 1985 footnotes: citations: Private collection. date: After 1985-1998 footnotes: citations: (Sotheby's, New York, January 28, 1998, cat. no. 60) date: 1998 footnotes: citations: (Thomas Williams Fine Art, Ltd, London, purchased by The Cleveland Museum of Art, Aug. 1999.) date: probably 1998-1999 footnotes: citations: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH. date: 1999- footnotes: citations: --- fun fact: The woman’s hairstyle in this drawing—cut short and frizzed at the front and sides, with loose curls in the back—was called à la hérisson, or "hedgehog style," and was fashionable during the 1780s. digital description: The woman portrayed in the oval has not yet been identified, but she is made to look highly important by her rendition in profile, like an ancient Renaissance coin, and by the elaborate decoration surrounding the cartouche (the central area containing the portrait). Increasing her distinction, the flying male nudes personify Victory and Fame, while the crown, that of an English viscountess, indicates her nobility. The contrast in technique between the cartouche—composed of pen, ink, and watercolor—and the red-chalk portrait was purposefully emphasized to suggest that the portrait is an older "icon" of reverence. Giuseppe Cades was an important history painter and frescoist, known also for his decorative ensembles, whose influence can be detected in the decorative quality of this composition. This drawing combines the contemporary French Rococo style of the red chalk portrait with the antique-based, Italian style of the surrounding decorative figures and forms. A finished work rather than a preparatory study, it would have been made as a souvenir for the English tourist during her stay in Rome on the Grand Tour. wall description: The woman portrayed in the oval has not yet been identified, but she is made to look highly important by her rendition in profile, like an ancient Renaissance coin, and by the elaborate decoration surrounding the cartouche (the central area containing the portrait). Increasing her distinction, the flying male nudes personify Victory and Fame, while the crown indicates her nobility. The contrast in technique between the cartouche and the portrait was purposefully emphasized to suggest that the portrait is an older "icon" of reverence. The finished quality of the drawing suggests that it was a presentation sheet and not a study for a work of art in another medium. Giuseppe Cades was an important history painter and frescoist, known also for his decorative ensembles. He worked mostly in Rome in a neoclassical style based on Renaissance and ancient Roman art. This drawing combines the contemporary rococo style of the red chalk portrait with the antique-based style of the surrounding decorative figures and forms. --- RELATED WORKS --- CITATIONS P. & D. Colnaghi & Co. Exhibition of Old Master Drawings. London: P. & D. Colnaghi & Co, 1952. page number: Mentioned: cat. no. 43 url: Christie’s. Important Old Master Drawings: Architectural and Decorative Drawings. London: Christie’s, 1985. page number: Mentioned: p. 82 no. 183; Reproduced: p. 83. url: Caracciolo, Maria Teresa. Giuseppe Cades 1750-1799 et la Rome de son temps. Paris: Arthena, 1990. page number: Mentioned and Reproduced: p. 259 no. 69, pl. 9 url: Sotheby’s. Old Master Drawings, including a drawing by Michelangelo Buonarroti, Christ and the Woman of Samaria. New York: Sotheby’s, 1998. page number: Mentioned: p. 74 no. 60; Reproduced: p. 75. url: Cleveland Museum of Art, “Mrs. Paul Wurzburger Donates Major Calder Mobile to Cleveland Museum of Art, Korean Painting, Japanese Ceramic, Italian Drawing and other Works Acquired” September 8, 1999, Cleveland Museum of Art Archives. page number: url: https://archive.org/details/cmapr4281 Cleveland Museum of Art, Diane DeGrazia, and Carter E. Foster. Master Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art in association with Rizzoli International Publications, New York, 2000. page number: Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 28, pp. 76-77; p. 287 url: --- IMAGES web: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1999.172/1999.172_web.jpg print: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1999.172/1999.172_print.jpg full: https://openaccess-cdn.clevelandart.org/1999.172/1999.172_full.tif