Sketch of Jewelled Antique Bust in the Medici Collection, Florence
n.d.
Medium
Gouache, heightened with gold paint, over traces of black chalk, on ivory laid paper
Dimensions
11.1 × 11.3 cm (4 3/8 × 4 1/2 in.)
Classification
gouache
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
115491
Art Historical Context
This delicate gouache by Giuseppe Grisoni captures a jewelled antique bust once housed in the renowned Medici Collection Florence. Created on a small sheet of ivory laid paper measuring just over four inches square, the sketch records the ornate details of a classical sculpture, preserving its form and embellishments for study or posterity. Grisoni’s careful rendering invites viewers to appreciate both the ancient artifact and the artist’s attentive eye. The medium itself—gouache heightened with gold paint over faint black chalk lines—lends the work a luminous, jewel-like quality perfectly su...
About the Artist
Giuseppe Grisoni · 1699–1769
Giuseppe Grisoni was born in Mons, in the Spanish Netherlands, in 1699, to an Italian family, and his career unfolded across multiple European courts and cultural centers, making him a quintessentially cosmopolitan figure of the early eighteenth century. He received his artistic training in Florence, where he absorbed the rich tradition of Florentine portraiture and absorbed the influence of the G...