Antonio Grano (1669-1718)
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Dimensions: Height 40 cm (16 inches) x Width 31.5 cm (13 inches) x Depth 2 cm (1 inches)
Allegory of summer. A fine Italian watercolor and sepia drawing with people harvesting, eating and drinking in a hilly landscape, probably by Antonio Grano (c.1669-1718). In the front of the image is a shepherd resting against a rock. A couple of men are making wheat sheafs and further back in the drawing are two women, one seems to be picking flowers and the other is approaching with a wine or water vessel in one hand and balancing a tray of fruits or other edibles on her head with the other hand. An amusing detail is the sun which is depicted with a face in the top center. Antonio Grano is considered one of the leading representatives of the Sicilian late Baroque and is one of those artists whose biography and artistic achievements have only recently taken on clearer contours. Grano likely received his first artistic training from an artist in Pietro Novelli's circle. Although more is now known about Grano's paintings and his collaborations with important architects of the time, his drawings remain largely unexplored. Recently, Catherine Monbeig Goguel was able to link a series of important drawings, previously attributed to a wide variety of artists from Nicola Maria Rossi to Francesco Solimena, to the name Grano. Her studies has enabled a better understanding of Grano's drawing style and vividly illustrated the artistic genesis of individual panel paintings, as well as ceiling and wall decorations.
Examples of Antonio Granos drawings are preserved in Paris, Musée du Louvre, Art Institute of Chicago, Städel Museum (Frankfurt af Main), Museo del Prado and others.