The Philadelphia Museum of Art is fortunate to have a collection of Italian drawings that encompasses a broad sweep of Italy’s art history, from the Renaissance to Futurism to the contemporary, and includes works by such famed artists as Batoni, Salviati, Guercino, and Modigliani. With this publication, eighty of these drawings are provided with insightful commentary, scholarly analysis, and biographies of the artists by the renowned scholar Mimi Cazort. Ann Percy, the Museum’s Curator of Drawings, has contributed the first full account of the people and events that shaped this extraordinary but little-published collection. Her lively essay is amply illustrated with an additional sixty-five drawings owned by the Museum.

The international significance of this collection of Italian drawings is borne out by its selection to be part of Amilcare Pizzi’s distinguished series I grandi disegni italiani, which has included volumes on the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Albertina, the Uffizi, the Louvre, and the Hermitage. Pizzi will publish the Italian edition of this latest addition to the series.

This book will accompany an exhibition to be held at the Philadelphia Museum of Art from October 30, 2004, to February 20, 2005.