Giovanni Andrea DE FERRARI (1598 - 1669) - The Virgin and Child

Giovanni Andrea de Ferrari was one of the most interesting Genoese painters of the seventeenth century. After studying at Bernardo Castello, he entered the studio of Bernardo Strozzi, which he followed until the 1620s. He then turned to the art of Ansaldo, Vouet and Orazio Gentileschi. After 1630, his style became more marked by that of Van Dyck and Fiasella.
Although no work has been linked to this little drawing, his style is characteristic of Giovanni Andrea especially in the way of making eyes and hands with long tapered and broken fingers. The drawing of the Uffizi representing the Miracle of Santa Zita (Fig. 2), dating from the years 1620-30, is particularly close to ours.
Comparative Bibliography: M. Newcome Schleier, Disegni genovesi dal XVI to XVIII secolo, Firenze 1989, pp. 76-77, n. 34, fig. 47