pen, ink and wash (recto); chalk, pen and ink (verso), with watermark: armorial shield with lettering 'PG' below Unframed: 28.2 x 22.4 cm. (11 1/8 x 8 7/8 in.)Provenance:Possibly Charles-François-Joseph Libert de Beaumon (1741-1812) (Lugt 1679, 1703)Private Collection, U.K.Notes:Filippo Pedrini initially studied under his father, Domenico, a contemporary and follower of Ubaldo Gandolfi. At the age of 15 Filippo enrolled at the Accademia Clementina where he studied under Ubaldo and Gaetano Gandolfi. His precocious talent won him numerous prizes for excellence, and aged just 27 he was appointed professor. Filippo would emerge as one of the most successful artists in late 18th-century Bologna, carrying the Bolognese Baroque tradition into the 19th century. In 1821 he was elected member of the Accademia Pontificia in Rome, and in keeping with the times, he turned to a more marked neo-classical style in the latter part of his career. Like many artists before him, including his compatriot Francesco Albani, Filippo modelled his composition on Raphael’s 'Expulsion from Paradise' in the vault of the Vatican Loggia. His figures move dynamically along a steep diagonal across the picture plane. Brandishing a flaming sword, the angel drives Adam and Eve out of the Garden of Eden; as Eve attempts to conceal her nudity, Adam bows his head in shame. Inevitably Filippo’s drawings in pen and wash show clear affinities with the style of his master, Ubaldo Gandolfi, a factor that has often led to difficulties in attribution. While Filippo retained a number of stylistic features clearly derived from Ubaldo, he adopted a looser more flowing style with the result that his drawings are lighter and executed with fine, deliberate contour lines that shift slightly in weight. (see for examples; 'Allegory of Fame' (Modena, Galleria Estense 1090), 'Allegory of Victory' (ex-Ralph Holland Collection) and 'Allegory of Victory' (Milan, Museo Poldi-Pezzoli 4956)). When working at speed, as with the present drawing, the repetition of contours as the pen seemingly moves around limbs endows his figures with a palpable sense of movement. Filippo utilised his own distinctive formulae for facial and anatomical features: sharp triangular noses, alongside a highly stylised shorthand for hands and feet. Fine contouring delicately describes wings, shrubbery – including the fig leaves – and bodies. Though the interior modelling is intentionally minimal, the penstrokes are guided by his core foundation in anatomy. This is masterfully demonstrated in Adam’s muscular legs and the abrupt wavy line that pinpoints his collarbone. Filippo’s rather unique annotation for breasts serves as a virtual ‘signature’. Like Ubaldo Gandolfi, Filippo defines deep shadows with passages of heavy wash. On the whole, however, he is far more economical in his use of ink. Areas of paper are often left exposed, allowing the paper itself to provide the highlights. This sharp clear distinction between light and dark endows his drawings with a quality that is almost luminous.