Putto Lifting Curtain (recto); Infant St. John (verso)

Art Historical Context

This delicate double-sided drawing, in the style of the Baroque master Mattia Preti (3–1699), the artist's flair for dynamic figures and emotional expressiveness. On the rect, a playful putto—a chubby infant angel common in Baroque decoration—lifts a curtain, suggesting a theatrical reveal or glimpse into a sacred scene. The verso features the Infant St. John the Baptist, rendered with tender vulnerability, evoking devotional themes central to Counter-Reformation art. Preti, influenced by Caravaggio's dramatic tenebrism, often explored such motifs in his grand frescoes and altarpieces across Italy and Malta. Executed in red chalk on the recto for warm, fleshy modeling and black chalk on the verso for crisp contours, the work is on tan laid paper—a favored 17th-century support for preparatory studies. These chalk media allowed artists like Preti to achieve soft gradations and sfumato effects, ideal for sketching compositions before committing to oil or fresco. At just 19 × 12.6 cm, its intimate scale hints at a private sketchbook page, revealing the iterative process behind Baroque masterpieces. Housed in the Art Institute of Chicago's Prints and Drawings collection, this undated gem highlights the technical virtuosity of drawing as an independent art form, bridging studio practice and public spectacle in the vibrant world of 17th-century Europe.