Lot Essay
Miles Chappell in his article On the Identification of a Collector's mark (Lugt 2729) proposed that the stamp on this drawing was that of Sigismondo Coccapani, Master Drawings, 1983, XXI, pp. 36-58. The armorial stamp appears only on drawings made by artists working with Cigoli. The crest on the mark is that of a rearing ram in front of two bands with two initials 'GC' and is very close to the coat of arms of the Coccapani family, as recorded by Eugenio Gamurrini in Istoria Genealogica delle famiglie nobili Toscane et Umbre, published in Florence in 1685, Chappell, op. cit., 1983, fig. 4. Although the collector could be identified with Paolo Coccapani, bishop of Reggio, none of the drawings mentioned in the latter's inventory seem to correspond with any sheet bearing the mark.
A drawing of the crest itself is found on a sketch by an artist from Cigoli's circle. Moreover, the initials on the crest possibly correspond with those of one of Cigoli's pupils, Sigismondo Coccapani, also called Gismondo, and of his brother and heir Giovanni Coccapani, Chappell, op. cit., 1983, pp. 40-1.
Some of the drawings of the group can be attributed to Cigoli and his pupils, Sigismondo and Giovanni Coccapani and Cristofano Allori, while others are ricordi of Cigoli's late compositions.
The largest group of these drawings is at the Uffizi and must have entered the Fondo Mediceo-Lorense in the second half of the 17th Century; others are found in the Gabinetto Nazionale delle Stampe, Rome, in the Louvre, in the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, and in private collections. A drawing with the same stamp, from Sir John Pope-Hennessy's collection, was sold at Christie's, New York, 10 January 1996, lot 23, illustrated.
A drawing of the crest itself is found on a sketch by an artist from Cigoli's circle. Moreover, the initials on the crest possibly correspond with those of one of Cigoli's pupils, Sigismondo Coccapani, also called Gismondo, and of his brother and heir Giovanni Coccapani, Chappell, op. cit., 1983, pp. 40-1.
Some of the drawings of the group can be attributed to Cigoli and his pupils, Sigismondo and Giovanni Coccapani and Cristofano Allori, while others are ricordi of Cigoli's late compositions.
The largest group of these drawings is at the Uffizi and must have entered the Fondo Mediceo-Lorense in the second half of the 17th Century; others are found in the Gabinetto Nazionale delle Stampe, Rome, in the Louvre, in the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, and in private collections. A drawing with the same stamp, from Sir John Pope-Hennessy's collection, was sold at Christie's, New York, 10 January 1996, lot 23, illustrated.