Portrait Of An Ecclesiastic – Preparatory Drawing On Brown Paper, 67 X 49 Cm

Portrait of an Ecclesiastic – Preparatory drawing on brown paper, 67 x 49 cm

Medium: charcoal and white chalk on slightly toned brown paper

Size: 67 x 49 cm

Condition: very good; small pinholes at the top edge (traces of studio display), irregular margins, minor handling marks

A large preparatory drawing depicting a clergyman in three-quarter view, holding a book to his chest, his gaze turned upward in a contemplative expression. This is a painter’s working study, not a student’s exercise—likely the first phase of a devotional composition or sacred mural project.

The sheet comes from the studio of Luigi Guglielmino, a direct pupil of Enrico Reffo. It was probably pinned and kept in view as a model within the workshop. The drawing shows strong volume, refined use of white highlights, and a calm intensity in the expression, characteristic of sacred art in late 19th-century Piedmont.

Attributed to the atelier of Enrico Reffo (Turin, 1831–1917), one of the leading figures of religious painting in Northern Italy at the turn of the century.