Studies of the Madonna and Child (recto); Kneeling Virgin (verso)

Hailing from a long line of painters, Giulio Cesare Procaccini was one of the most successful artists working in Milan in the early 17th century and a key figure in developing a new artistic language in religious art at this moment, as artists gradually moved away from the mannerist language that had dominated painting in the second-half of the 16th century. Procaccini’s ability to humanize religious subjects was a key aspect of his style which ushered in this new era, and this is nicely demonstrated in this informal group of figures studies—primi pensieri or first thoughts—which were likely executed by the artist in a matter of minutes as he worked out a number of ideas right on the sketch page.