Studio of Taddeo Zuccaro, Italian 1529-1566- Seated Woman holding a...

Studio of Taddeo Zuccaro, Italian 1529-1566- Seated Woman holding a staff; pen and brown ink and brown wash heightened with white, traces of red chalk on cream laid paper, bears inscription and dated 1559, bears further inscription to the reverse, 37x27.5cm. Provenance: Valerius Röver, Delft, 1686-1739, Lugt 2984b; Possibly Everhard Jabach, Paris, 1618-1695, (Lugt 3788); Johann Goll van Franckenstein, Amsterdam, 1722-1795 (Lugt 2987); P & D Colnaghi & Co. Ltd., London; gifted to the present owner in 1952. Note: The figure in this drawing appears over the right-hand northwest facing window in the Sala dei Fasti Farnesiani of the Palazzo Farnese in Rome. The frescoes for the palace were begun in the 1550s by Francesco Salviati and he was able to execute the two long walls of the Sala dei Fasti Farnesiani before he died in 1563. Taddeo Zuccaro, who was already engaged in the decoration of the Farnese villa at Caprarola, was asked to complete the remaining two short walls of the chamber. However, upon his sudden death in September of 1566 the work remained unfinished and was finally completed by his younger brother Federico. The present drawing is one of at least eight sheets related to the figure, thought by some authors to represent Valor. The others reside in the British Museum (inv. 5211-54), the Kupferstichkabinett in Berlin (inv. 18263), the Kestner Museum in Hanover (inv. Hz 805), and the Musée des Beaux-Arts in Dijon (Trimolet collection, no. 61). The Berlin drawing is reproduced in a lesser copy in the Biblioteca Marucelliana in Florence (vol. E, 94) and a high-quality variant of the figure was once part of the Rosenbach Foundation in Philadelphia and, later, the British Rail Pension Fund. It was sold in 1991 and, again, in 2002 (Sotheby’s, London, 10th July 2002, lot 98) and its present whereabouts is unknown. Finally, John Gere mentions an additional example that was once part of the collection of Paul Wallraf, much of whose collection was sold in 1983. (J. A. Gere, and Philip Pouncey, Italian Drawings. Artists Working in Rome c. 1550-c.1640, London: British Museum, 1983, vol. 1, pp. 208-209, no. 333. The Wallraf sale took place at Sotheby’s London on 8-9 December 1983). Gere, in 1991, reported yet one more version in a private German collection (Gere, J.A., Drawings by Taddeo and Federico Zuccaro and Other Artists From the Collection of the British Rail Pension Fund, New York, Sotheby’s 11 January 1990, p. 26 under no. 25). The three drawings (the London, Berlin and the former Rosenbach sheets) lay the greatest claim to being by the hand of Taddeo Zuccaro. Gere and Acidini were only somewhat skeptical of the Berlin sheet which, while having a slight stiffness to it, does present a very different position of the legs from the other two and more of a throne-like setting for the figure. Evidently the variation in pose was an option briefly considered by Taddeo. All three drawings are slightly smaller than the drawing on offer and they utilize white body color to emphasize the highlights on the drapery and portions of the face, arms and hands. The present work includes the white heightening but with a lighter touch, and also includes the suggestion of two head studies, lightly outlined in red chalk to the left of the allegorical figure and in one case crossing over her cheek and eye. Initially the work could be interpreted as a studio copy due to the heavier use of wash and thinner white heightening to flatten the overall effect. However, it may also be a study of light and shade - a separate component of the overall sequence of production. It is also evident that the drawing is not a copy of the fresco; there is a gap between the figure’s left arm and the column base further to its left which is not found in the fresco. The left hand of the figure in the painting covers a portion of the drapery falling down from her shoulder, and the drapery folds in general do not correspond between the painting and the drawing. Based on these factors it seems clear that the work on offer is a copy after that in the British Museum. Every drapery fold and outline of the figure’s head, arms and legs align as does the architectural setting. A comparison of the heads in the two drawings points to the extreme reliance of the one on the other; the smallest strokes indicating a tiny drapery fold or curl agree, the two nipples are described alike, the definition of the chin, or how the doubled line along the left side of her forehead all match. The eyes are focused in the same direction in both. The British Museum drawing is squared for transfer, thus suggesting its sequential role in the final execution of the fresco. The work on offer was meant to serve as a useful ricordo or document of the former drawing as it moved through the vicissitudes of the design and production phases, and as such is a contemporary copy that had a purpose and function. The question remains if Taddeo Zuccaro put his hand to this drawing, which is difficult to determine when there is uncertainty around exactly which parts of the two short walls in the chamber were executed by which brother. At the time in 1564 when Taddeo began work in the Sala dei Fasti Farnesiani, Federico was in Venice. He would not return to Rome until January of 1566. One cannot be absolutely certain that he was not involved in the Farnese Palace project before his brother’s death but there were so many simultaneously ongoing projects under Taddeo’s supervision that Federico’s involvement in some of them must be acknowledged. Gere suggests that the British Museum drawing is itself is less like Taddeo’s work than other preparatory drawings for the Farnese Palace (“his individual touch is less immediately recognizable”) but ultimately is persuaded that it is the work of Taddeo (Gere and Pouncey, 1983, p. 209). “This is likewise one of those drawings that hang unsatisfactorily in the balance between Taddeo and Federico, but strong external support for Taddeo’s authorship is provided by” [drawings in the Hermitage and the Louvre]). Likewise, the drawing is not stereotypical of Taddeo’s work but is not entirely different from a drawing for the allegorical figure on the other side of the same window in a private collection (E. James Mundy, Renaissance into Baroque, Italian Master Drawings by the Zuccari 1550-1600, Cambridge University Press, 1989. Pp.134-135, no. 37. Iris Cheney in her review of the exhibition (Master Drawings, Spring, 1994, p. 65 suggests that this is from the workshop, an opinion not shared by Gere in his supplement to Taddeo’s work (Master Drawings, Autumn, 1995, p.280). It does not immediately suggest Taddeo’s work in its construction of flatter planes and smoother forms, but it does, through its corporeality suggest sculpture which these two allegories are meant to simulate. Thus, the conclusion being that the present drawing, while not by the hand of Taddeo, was executed under his strict supervision between 1564 and 1566 or, possibly even under that of Federico when he came on board later in 1566. It is not an outlier to the Farnese Palace project but an essential part of its fabric and context. The dates of Taddeo’s activity on this project preclude the possibility that the inscription “Tadeus Zuccarus” and date “1559” represent a signature. On the reverse of the drawing are a number of inscriptions. The lower left hand edge reads "39/21" in black ink suggesting the drawing was in the collection of of Valerius Röver (Delft, 1686-1739), (Lugt 2984b). In the upper left corner of the verso can be read “N.O 6.gl.” in deep red chalk. Its look is very similar to one of the forms of inscription found on the versi of a number of drawings from the great collection of the Parisian banker Everhard Jabach (Lugt 3788). Also, on the reverse in the lower left corner are numbers in a thin red ink. The letter “N” and the numbers look very much like the inventory numbers of Johann Goll van Franckenstein used on the verso occasionally in the same light red ink (Lugt 2897). While Goll collected mostly Northern European drawings, he was known to have Italian works as well. Such distinguished and discerning collections add cachet to this drawing and suggest that these connoisseurs recognised the quality of the work. We are grateful to James Mundy for his assistance in the cataloguing of this lot.