Lot 1143 Dα

Domenico Piola studied the works of Castiglione and Valerio Castello as well as those of Rubens and Van Dyck, developing a spirited Baroque style of decoration that combines painting and stucco, and in which large numbers of gracefully posed figures are integrated into elaborate feigned architectural settings.
Domenico executed numerous preparatory drawings in connection with each of the projects he undertook. Many sheets by artists associated with the 'Casa Piola' are preserved in the museums of Genoa and Stuttgart, and further fine examples are preserved in the print rooms of leading museums all over the world. The holdings of the Casa Piola were saved from oblivion by the Genoese sculptor Santo Varni (1807-1885), who realised the importance of the drawings. Varni also owned the present sheet.
This large and attractive drawing is executed in Piola's typical technique of brown wash applied with the brush, over a sketch in black chalk. The concentration on the landscape is more exceptional in his known œuvre, where the human figure usually takes precedence. In this sheet however, the huge tree with its massive branches is the central element of the composition, with the shepherd resting idylically at its foot, and a cowherd at the top right.