Francesco Paolo Michetti (Tocco di Casauria 1851 - Francavilla al Mare 1929)

The Head of a Sheep Sold

Pastel, black chalk and touches of gouache on light brown paper.
Signed Michetti at the lower right.
527 x 438 mm. (20 3/4 x 17 1/4 in.)

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Sheep, goats and other animals appear in several of Michetti’s paintings of pastoral subjects in the 1880’s and 1890’s. The present sheet, executed with the artist’s characteristic bravura handling of a combination of pastel and gouache, may be compared stylistically with a large sheet of studies of goats in pastel, datable to 1886, in a private collection. Between 1895 and 1900 Michetti also made several photographs of sheep and goats, which he may also have used as preparatory studies for paintings.

Provenance:
Private collection, Chile, until 2010.