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Study for 'The Dream of Saint Joseph'
by Pietro Testa
Provenance
Nicolaes Anthoni Flinck (1646-1723) [Lugt 959]. William Cavendish (died 1729), 2nd Duke of Devonshire, from 1723 [Jaffe 1994]; by descent to Andrew Cavendish, 11th Duke of Devonshire and the Chatsworth Settlement Trustees [Jaffe 1994]; sold, Christie’s, London, July 3, 1984, "Old Master Drawings from Chatsworth," lot 43. Kate de Rothschild, London, by 1988 [Philadelphia 1988]; sold to the Art Institute, 1998.
Exhibition history
London, Kate de Rothschild Fine Art, "Exhibition of Old Master Drawings, " June 24–July 5, 1985, cat. 4. Philadelphia Museum of Art, "Pietro Testa (1612-1650), Prints and Drawings," November 5- December 31, 1988, pp. 48 and 52-53, , cat. 28 (ill.); traveled to the Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, Mass., January 21-March 19, 1989.
Publications
Ann Sutherland Harris, "Notes on the Chronology and Death of Pietro Testa," Paragone 213 (1967), p. 52, no. 30. K. Hartmann, "Pietro Testa: The Chronology of His Work and Evolution of His Style," Ph.D. dissertation, London University (1970), pp. 41–42, and 144. Paolo Bellini, L’Opera Incisa di Pietro Testa (Venice, 1976), p. 44. Hugh Brigstocke, "Some Further Thoughts on Pietro Testa," Münchner Jahrbuch der Bildenden Kunst 29 (1978), pp. 121 and 146, no. 64, and p. 134, pl. 34. Michael Jaffé, The Devonshire Collection of Italian Drawings, vol. II (London, 1994), no. 352 (ill.).
Quick Overview
- Artist
- Pietro Testa / Italian, 1611/12-1650
- Date
- 1635/37
- Medium
- Pen and brown ink, with black chalk and traces of incising, on tan laid paper, laid down on cream wove paper
- Dimensions
- 36.8 × 24.2 cm (14 1/2 × 9 9/16 in.)
- Type
- Drawing
- Classification
- pen and ink drawings
- Place
- Italy
- Department
- Prints and Drawings
- Credit line
- Purchased with funds provided by Dorothy Harza, with the assistance of Kate de Rothschild Agius and Marcus Agius, in memory of Laura Harza
- Accession no.
- 1998.358
More by Pietro Testa in museum collections
Nude Youth Running (recto); Standing Draped Old Man with Left Hand Upraised (verso)
Pietro Testa1612–50 · Drawing
Data retrieved from the Art Institute of Chicago on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Open-access museum record · AT-00005763
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