Studies of a Sphinx (recto), and Studies for the Liberation of Saint Peter (verso)

As a double-sided drawing, with two distinct motifs receiving systematic elaboration, this is the most interesting of the Collection’s six similar black chalk studies by the younger Piola. The sphinx on the recto must correspond to a motif in one of his many secular decorations. The liberation of Saint Peter on the verso represents an early stage of a composition developed on another of the Collection’s sheets and again in a drawing in the Uffizi. The large diagonals of the composition, the even handling of the chalk, and such systematic exposition of theme all reveal Piola’s assimilation of academic draftsmanship during a four-year period in Carlo Maratta’s workshop.