Sketch For The Praying Virgin. Signed By Enrico Reffo

Sketch for the Praying Virgin. Signed by Enrico Reffo

White pencil and charcoal on brown paper

Signed lower right “Reffo”
Size: approx. 66 x 46 cm

Condition: creases, small losses and irregular edges, but the drawing is clearly legible.

This luminous sketch shows a young woman in prayer, her hands delicately clasped and her face surrounded by a radiant halo. The purity of line and introspective calm evoke a spiritualist aesthetic, echoing the Pre-Raphaelite tradition and the neo-medieval sensibility found in certain strands of late 19th-century Italian religious art.

Signed by Enrico Reffo (1831–1917), one of the leading religious painters of 19th-century Italy, active within the Salesian Congregation and a teacher in Don Bosco’s school. The sheet comes from the studio of his pupil and assistant Luigi Guglielmino. A rare signed example of a preparatory work, likely intended for a larger canvas or chapel decoration.