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Lot Essay
Dr Laura Laureati has kindly confirmed the attribution to Vanvitelli on the basis of a photograph.
The drawing was made in preparation for the central section of Vanvitelli's painting of 1723, formerly in the Palazzo Albani, Urbino, and now in a private collection (G. Briganti, Gaspar van Wittel, Milan, 1996, no. 408).
Another drawing by Vanvitelli, very similar in handling, format and scale to the present drawing but showing Urbino from the Colle dei Cappuccini, is in the Pierpont Morgan Library, New York (G. Briganti, op. cit., no. D282). Briganti dates that drawing to Vanvitelli's visit to Urbino with his son Luigi in 1717 or 1718, a date which may also be advanced for the present work. Both drawings are on joined sheets, and concentrate on the central section of the composition as it was eventually painted, suggesting that they were made from life. The Morgan Library drawing bears the number '263' in the same hand as the number '225' on the present drawing, which may indicate a shared early provenance.
The present view is taken from the South East, showing the 16th Century walls of Urbino from the Porta San Paolo to the Porta Santa Lucia. In the centre is the monastery of Santa Chiara, with the convent of San Girolamo to the left and the turrets of Palazzo Ducale seen beyond.
The drawing was made in preparation for the central section of Vanvitelli's painting of 1723, formerly in the Palazzo Albani, Urbino, and now in a private collection (G. Briganti, Gaspar van Wittel, Milan, 1996, no. 408).
Another drawing by Vanvitelli, very similar in handling, format and scale to the present drawing but showing Urbino from the Colle dei Cappuccini, is in the Pierpont Morgan Library, New York (G. Briganti, op. cit., no. D282). Briganti dates that drawing to Vanvitelli's visit to Urbino with his son Luigi in 1717 or 1718, a date which may also be advanced for the present work. Both drawings are on joined sheets, and concentrate on the central section of the composition as it was eventually painted, suggesting that they were made from life. The Morgan Library drawing bears the number '263' in the same hand as the number '225' on the present drawing, which may indicate a shared early provenance.
The present view is taken from the South East, showing the 16th Century walls of Urbino from the Porta San Paolo to the Porta Santa Lucia. In the centre is the monastery of Santa Chiara, with the convent of San Girolamo to the left and the turrets of Palazzo Ducale seen beyond.