Description
Giuseppe Bernardino Bison (Palmanova 1762 – Milan 1844) – Holy Family.
Pencil and white chalk on paper, in a gilded wood frame.
Signed lower right: «Bison».
Giuseppe Bernardino Bison was one of the leading figures of the late eighteenth-century Venetian school, trained in the academic drawing tradition and gifted with a lightness of touch entirely his own. Active in Venice, Trieste and finally Milan, where he died in 1844, he left a distinguished body of graphic work, appreciated by his contemporaries. The sheet depicts a half-length Holy Family: the Madonna, shown in three-quarter view with her hair gathered up, holds the Christ Child in her arms, while a second male figure — identifiable as Saint Joseph — appears in the background to the left. The technique, pencil and white chalk on brown-toned prepared paper, is handled with confidence and fluency; the highlights are built up in short strokes that model the volumes effectively. The drawing is an autograph work, as confirmed by the signature at lower right.
Condition report: Good state of preservation of the paper support. Some abrasions and general yellowing are present due to age.
