Judith and Holofernes and Other Studies (recto); Diana and Endymion (verso)

Giuseppe Nicola Nasini · c. 1718

Medium

Pen and brown ink and brush and brown wash, with black chalk and touches of pen and black ink (recto), and pen and brown and black inks, with red and black chalk and brush and brown wash (verso), on cream laid paper

Original size

22.4 × 26.5 cm (8 7/8 × 10 7/16 in.)

Currently held

Art Institute of Chicago

Movement

Baroque

This double-sided study sheet offers a rare glimpse into the working mind of an eighteenth-century Italian master, with a charged scene of Judith and Holofernes on the front and a tender Diana and Endymion on the reverse. Giuseppe Nicola Nasini was a Sienese painter trained in the grand Roman Baroque tradition under Ciro Ferri, a direct heir to Pietro da Cortona's sweeping decorative style. His draughtsmanship here is confident and exploratory — the recto combining pen, brown wash, and black chalk to build dramatic contrasts, while the verso uses red chalk alongside ink to achieve a softer, more lyrical mood. The sheet reflects how Nasini moved fluidly between sacred and mythological subjects, often within the same commission. Held in the Art Institute of Chicago, this work dates to around 1718, near the height of his career when he was producing major fresco cycles across Tuscany. Our hand-painted oil reproduction translates this intimate study into the richness of oil on canvas, preserving the layered tonal depth and expressive line work that make the original so compelling to stand before.