Christ in the House of Lazarus

Pen and brown ink and brown wash. Signed lower right 'J. Cades fecit'. An old pen inscription on the verso reads 'Il Sig[nor] andrede in Casa da Madalena e [dall Sorella] e Mad si pos[te] alle Piede del Sig[nor] e Marta Lamentado'.

210 x 296mm. (8 x 11 inches)

Literature: Maria Teresa Caracciolo, Giuseppe Cades 1750–1799 et la Rome de son temps, Paris, 1992, p.162, cat. 161 illus.

GIUSEPPE CADES
Rome 1750 ~ 1799 Rome

Giuseppe Cades, although born in Rome, had a French father. He was trained in the studio of Domenico Corvi but was expelled in 1766 for being too independent. From an early age he was recognised as an accomplished draughtsman. In the late 1770s his studio had become a fashionable centre for visitors. His work reflects the neo-classicism of late 18th century Rome. He was a contemporary of Gavin Hamilton and Antonio Canova but temperamentally belonged more to the younger set of artists such as Sergel, Barry and Fuseli.¹

The style of our drawing is quite rare for Cades.² With such elongated, mannerist figures, executed with such assured freedom, it must be a late sketch. However, in certain aspects it recalls the artist's early works, for example the two old men in conversation on the left-hand side of the drawing. Also, Cades has returned to a theme he treated around 1770–80 and there is a related etching, dated in the 1780s, in the Gabinetto dei Disegni e Stampe, Uffizi Gallery, Florence.³

1. Anthony M. Clark, An Introduction to the Drawings of Giuseppe Cades, Master Drawings, ii, 1964, pp. 18–26.

2. M. T. Caracciolo, loc. sit.

3. Bruce Davis kindly gave me this information.