The three oil sketches on paper forming the basis of this study—all of elderly, male sitters—are attributed to unknown sixteenth- or early seventeenth-century Bolognese artists: painters associated with the Carracci family and their Academia degli Incaminati. This context was notable for its near-constant examination of the world around it through consistent drawing and painting, and for its success in exporting its negotiations of the contemporary religious landscape beyond Bologna, to Rome and further afield. A brief overview of the original intention, forms and early functions of these works is given, before focus turns to traditions of ownership and collection in the generations immediately after their creation. The British contexts that the sketches entered during the eighteenth century—collections at Stourhead House, Saltram House and General John Guise's bequest to Christ Church—are then explored through consideration of the social and artistic milieux in which these works were acquired. All three sketches have been mounted on to canvas or panel supports: this conservation history sheds light on how these works have been altered structurally, aesthetically and in functionality as they moved from an early didactic purpose to that of display in the eighteenth century.

构成本研究基础的三幅纸上油画素描——所有的老年男性保姆——都归功于不知名的 16 世纪或 17 世纪早期的博洛尼亚艺术家：与 Carracci 家族及其 Academia degli Incaminati 有关联的画家。这一背景因其通过一致的绘画和绘画对周围世界的近乎持续的审视，以及成功地将其对博洛尼亚以外的当代宗教景观的谈判输出到罗马和更远的地方而著称。简要概述了这些作品的初衷、形式和早期功能，然后将重点转向创作后几代人的所有权和收藏传统。草图进入十八世纪的英国语境——斯托黑德故居的藏品，然后通过考虑获得这些作品的社会和艺术环境来探索萨尔特拉姆之家和约翰吉斯将军对基督教堂的遗赠。所有三幅草图都安装在画布或面板支架上：这段保护历史揭示了这些作品在结构、美学和功能上如何改变，因为它们从早期的教学目的转变为 18 世纪的展示目的。