Description
Original Old Master drawing of a bearded man in profile, rendered in black chalk on laid paper and mounted to an old collector’s support.
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Attributed to Francesco Fernandi (1679-1740), called “Imperiali”, a Roman Baroque/Rococo painter known for idealized head studies
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Fernandi was patronized by Cardinal Imperiali and influenced leading artists such as Pompeo Batoni and Allan Ramsay
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Medium: black chalk on laid paper, sheet c. 8 × 9 inches
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Mount bears an old handwritten label “Imperiali,” typical of 19th-20th century collector practice
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Old collector’s mount, top left inscribed No. 3.
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Condition: even toning, light foxing specks, and one diagonal handling crease; overall well preserved for its age
Francesco Fernandi, called l’Imperiali (1679-1740), mattered because he sat at the hinge between late-Baroque classicism and the lighter early-Rococo taste in Rome. Under the patronage of Cardinal Imperiali, he ran a busy studio whose clear, classical draftsmanship-firm contour, balanced planes, and idealized “character heads”-became a finishing school for Grand Tour artists; figures like Pompeo Batoni and Allan Ramsay absorbed his disciplined drawing and antique-minded style there. His head studies and compositional sheets fed altarpieces and palace decorations for Roman and foreign patrons, helping to transmit Maratta-style clarity to a new generation. That mix of influential teaching, high-level commissions, and widely circulated drawings is why Imperiali’s name still signals quality in 18th-century Roman art.
An evocative 18th-century Old Master study, with both scholarly and decorative appeal. Offered at a fixed price to test collector interest. Please review all photos for details and condition.
