Alessandro Casolani  was born in Siena, and was the pupil of Ventura Salimbeni and of Cristoforo Roncalli. His works are principally to be found in the churches of Siena, but are also found in Naples and Genoa. This ink and wash preparatory drawing for a large painting shows in the background the expulsion from paradise of Adam and Eve by the angel Jophiel, under God's instruction. This has echoes of the famous painting by Michelangelo in the central ceiling vault of the Sistine Chapel. In the foreground they are shown after their fall with Eve nursing the new-born Cain whilst Adam contemplates life and their sin. In between the pair Satan, in the form of a human-serpent figure, is depicted.

The reverse of the drawing has a British Museum label which compares the work with a sheet of studies for the same composition in the Uffizi  (no.4876F)

Provenance: Ex David Fyfe-Jamieson collection.