Spanish Lady standing in Courtyard

Inscribed in brown ink on lower center of recto: Dama Spagnola
Framed: 8" w x 12" h


Little is known of the Venetian artist, Francesco Galimberti, other than the fact that he was a painter, draftsman and engraver. He painted monumental, historically inspired canvases for the Ca’ Michiel a Ponte Casale in Venice, which were engraved by Francesco del Pedro. He was eventually called to the Vienna, where he worked as a painter of history scenes and portraits, including one of General Alexander Ssuworoff-Rymniskij, which was engraved by Giovanni de’ Pian in 1794. Galimberti also worked as an engraver, reproducing the works of the great Venetian masters, including Carpaccio and Veronese. The Musée de Grenoble possesses a preparatory drawing, signed by Galimberti, from this series.
Seemingly intended for an engraving, this charming drawing, executed in red and black chalk, is a costume study of a Spanish lady in typical dress. At the bottom of the sheet, the artist has inscribed the subject of the work, Dama Spagnola. She stands in a paved courtyard with a landscape behind. Another costume study by Galimberti, of identical size and media, depicting a Venetian woman standing in a similar setting, is inscribed Donna Veneziana in Mascera (sold Sotheby’s, London, 13 April 1992, lot 157). Engraved and disseminated throughout Europe, series of costume studies, similar to these two works, were popular in the second half of the eighteenth century. A possible connection with the theater is also plausible; the Genoese artist, Giovanni David, completed his circa 1775 aquatint series, Divers Portraits, with variously costumed figures above descriptive titles, as a representation of satirical characters presumably from theater (see Metropolitan Museum of Art, Genoa: Drawings and Prints, 1530-1800, New York, 1996, nos. 67-69).