price: U.S. $10,000

GIULIO ROMANO

Rome 1499? — 1546 Mantua

A Putto Riding an Acanthus Scroll

red chalk underdrawing, pen & brown ink. 15/16 x 33/8" (33 x 86mm). laid down to Richardson's ruled mount which is inscribed Giulio Romano.

provenance:
Jonathan Richardson, Senior (L.2183);
probably Richardson's sale London, Cock, 22 January - 10 February 1747;
Ray Livingston Murphy, NY (1923-1953);
Murphy's estate sale at Christies, London, 12 December 1985 whence sold to Adolphe Stein;
private collection.

This tiny but typical drawing was extracted from an album formed in the 18th century by the painter and major drawings collector Jonathan Richardson, Senior. A large number of drawings by Giulio from this album found there way to the British Museum. But ten small drawings were still retained together as a distinct group until 1985 when they were sold by the estate of Ray Livingston Murphy. Then they went there separate ways.

A frieze design with foliage, putti and a lion (Ff I-45) in the British Museum reveals, in the central section of the frieze, a nearly identical putto astride a coil of acanthus, though he is more upright than our putto which really seems to ride the foliage.1 Both were evidently part of the same decorative motif and measure in height within 1 mm. The BM drawing is inscribed on the back of the mount: Done in stucco in the Palace of T., most likely by Richardson Jr. The Palace of T is the Palazzo del Te in Mantua and one assumes that there was reason to make this connection. However, since the 18th c. there has been significant damage to the building and I am not aware of any existing stucco work which depicts this image.

In Mantua under Gonzaga patronage which began in 1524, the versatile Giulio, whose drawings were absolutely essential to his working methods, produced designs for metalwork, tableware, tapestries, monuments, frescoes, paintings, buildings, and more.

Another design incorporating a putto within an acanthus scroll is at Harvard University Art Museum.2
1

Pouncey and Gere, Raphael and His Circle, London, 1962, 2 vols., pl. 88, #97, text pp.70-71.

2

Janet Cox-Rearick, Giulio Romano, Master Designer, Seattle, Washington, 1999, pp.62-63.