Attributed to GIULIO ROMANO Winged sphinx.
Attributed to GIULIO ROMANO
(Rome 1499–1546 Mantua)
Winged sphinx.
Pen and brown ink. The contours pricked for transfer.
With old handwritten attributions 'Perino del Vaga' and 'Agostino Carracci'.
18 × 19.7 cm.
Provenance:
- Japanese private collection.
- Auction Mainichi, Tokyo, 14 October 2017, lot 980.
- Japanese private collection, acquired at the above auction.
Exhibited:
Tokyo 1985, Old master drawings from private collections in Japan, Daido Gallery, 5–10 August 1985, as Perino del Vaga.
Literature:
Exh. cat. Old master drawings from private collections in Japan, Tokyo 1985, p. 32 (with ill.), as Perino del Vaga.
The present drawing is probably closely connected with the decoration of the Camera delle Aquile in the Palazzo Te in Mantua. A winged sphinx in the animal frieze there shows clear parallels with the present sheet in its pose, modelling of the body and configuration of the wings (cf. Louvre, Paris, inv. no. 3518 and inv. no. 3701, as well as another drawing by Giulio Romano at the Museo Horne in Florence). The sculptural modelling of the body and the concise, parallel hatching likewise show stylistic affinities with drawings from Giulio Romano's design circle.
Particularly revealing are the pricked holes visible along the contours. They suggest that the drawing was used as part of a transfer process and therefore probably fulfilled a specific function within the working process.
Attributed to GIULIO ROMANO
(Rome 1499–1546 Mantua)
Winged sphinx.
Pen and brown ink. The contours pricked for transfer.
With old handwritten attributions 'Perino del Vaga' and 'Agostino Carracci'.
18 × 19.7 cm.
Provenance:
- Japanese private collection.
- Auction Mainichi, Tokyo, 14 October 2017, lot 980.
- Japanese private collection, acquired at the above auction.
Exhibited:
Tokyo 1985, Old master drawings from private collections in Japan, Daido Gallery, 5–10 August 1985, as Perino del Vaga.
Literature:
Exh. cat. Old master drawings from private collections in Japan, Tokyo 1985, p. 32 (with ill.), as Perino del Vaga.
The present drawing is probably closely connected with the decoration of the Camera delle Aquile in the Palazzo Te in Mantua. A winged sphinx in the animal frieze there shows clear parallels with the present sheet in its pose, modelling of the body and configuration of the wings (cf. Louvre, Paris, inv. no. 3518 and inv. no. 3701, as well as another drawing by Giulio Romano at the Museo Horne in Florence). The sculptural modelling of the body and the concise, parallel hatching likewise show stylistic affinities with drawings from Giulio Romano's design circle.
Particularly revealing are the pricked holes visible along the contours. They suggest that the drawing was used as part of a transfer process and therefore probably fulfilled a specific function within the working process.
