Caravaggio
by LEONI, Ottavio, Chalk on blue paper, 234 x 163 mm
A substantial quantity of Leoni’s drawn portraits were acquired by the artist’s foremost patron, Cardinal Scipione Borghese. Many of Leoni’s drawings are dated and the sitters identifiable, being not only nobility and prominent figures in society but also leading artists active in Rome in that period; perhaps the most famous example is his instantly recognizable posthumous portrait of Michelangelo Merisi da Caravaggio.