Lot Essay
Miles Chappell suggested that the present sheet, traditionally given to Lodovico Cigoli, was by the latter's pupil Sigismondo Coccapani, M. Chappell, op. cit. pp. 183-90, fig. 108.
The drawing is comparable in handling with a group of sheets attributed by Miles Chappell to Coccapani, such as a double-sided drawing of the Christ in the Limbo and the Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian (8865F) and drawings of the Entombment (988F) and of the Martyrdom of Saint Stephen (9015F), all in the Uffizi, and three other drawings in private collections, M. Chappell, op. cit., figs. 100-7. Miles Chappel also pointed out that the old man on the right of this drawing is very close to a figure on the verso of a composition in the Louvre of The Meeting of two Saints (inv. 32).
Most of these drawings, including the present one, are laid down on mounts of a characterictic type all bearing attributions 'Del Cigoli'. On all these sheets there is a collector's mark similar to Lugt 2729 that was studied by Miles Chappell in 1983, M. Chappell, On the Identification of a Collector's Mark (L. 2729), Master Drawings, 1983, XXI, pp. 36-58. The dry stamp only appears on a group of drawings made by artists in the circle of Cigoli. The crest that the mark depicts is that of a rearing ram in front of two bands and is very close to the coat of arms of the Coccapani family, such as recorded by Eugenio Gamurrini in Istoria Genealogica delle famigle nobili Toscane et Umbre, Florence, 1685, p. 169, M. Chappell, op. cit., 1983, fig. 4. This collector's mark may possibly have belonged to Paolo Coccapani, Bishop of Reggio, who collected drawings and pictures, but unfortunately none of the drawings in Coccapani's inventory seem to correspond to those bearing the mark. The crest can also be found on a sheet related to a composition by Cigoli's pupil, Cristofano Allori. The crest is there shown in the same chalk as the rest of the drawing, proving that the collector must have been someone working directly in Cigoli's circle. On the basis that Coccapani was Cigoli's pupil and that a number of drawings from that provenance can be attributed to the artist, Chappell proposed that the collection was assembled by Sigismondo Coccapani. Moreover the initials that are on either side of the crest can be read as the letters 'GC' which would correspond to the artist's signature, 'Gismondo Coccapani' or to that of his heir, his brother Giovanni Coccapani, M. Chappell, op. cit., p. 40-1.
The largest group of sheets with this provenance is in the Uffizi and must have entered the collection with the Fondo Mediceo-Lorenese in the second half of the 17th Century. Four of Sigismondo's drawings are known to have entered Leopoldo de'Medici's collection in the latter part of 1674 or the beginning of 1675. Other drawings from the same source are in the Gabinetto Nazionale delle Stampe in Rome, in the Louvre, in the Ashmolean Museum and in private collections.
Many of the drawings listed by Chappell in 1978 are compositional works related to pictures by Cigoli and artists in his circle. Most of these are by Cigoli and relate to pictures of the artist's later period. The second largest group of drawings is by Sigismondo Coccapani and the rest are by Sigismondo's brother Giovanni, Cristofano Allori or are simply riccordi of compositions from Cigoli's studio, some in multiple versions.
The drawing is comparable in handling with a group of sheets attributed by Miles Chappell to Coccapani, such as a double-sided drawing of the Christ in the Limbo and the Martyrdom of Saint Sebastian (8865F) and drawings of the Entombment (988F) and of the Martyrdom of Saint Stephen (9015F), all in the Uffizi, and three other drawings in private collections, M. Chappell, op. cit., figs. 100-7. Miles Chappel also pointed out that the old man on the right of this drawing is very close to a figure on the verso of a composition in the Louvre of The Meeting of two Saints (inv. 32).
Most of these drawings, including the present one, are laid down on mounts of a characterictic type all bearing attributions 'Del Cigoli'. On all these sheets there is a collector's mark similar to Lugt 2729 that was studied by Miles Chappell in 1983, M. Chappell, On the Identification of a Collector's Mark (L. 2729), Master Drawings, 1983, XXI, pp. 36-58. The dry stamp only appears on a group of drawings made by artists in the circle of Cigoli. The crest that the mark depicts is that of a rearing ram in front of two bands and is very close to the coat of arms of the Coccapani family, such as recorded by Eugenio Gamurrini in Istoria Genealogica delle famigle nobili Toscane et Umbre, Florence, 1685, p. 169, M. Chappell, op. cit., 1983, fig. 4. This collector's mark may possibly have belonged to Paolo Coccapani, Bishop of Reggio, who collected drawings and pictures, but unfortunately none of the drawings in Coccapani's inventory seem to correspond to those bearing the mark. The crest can also be found on a sheet related to a composition by Cigoli's pupil, Cristofano Allori. The crest is there shown in the same chalk as the rest of the drawing, proving that the collector must have been someone working directly in Cigoli's circle. On the basis that Coccapani was Cigoli's pupil and that a number of drawings from that provenance can be attributed to the artist, Chappell proposed that the collection was assembled by Sigismondo Coccapani. Moreover the initials that are on either side of the crest can be read as the letters 'GC' which would correspond to the artist's signature, 'Gismondo Coccapani' or to that of his heir, his brother Giovanni Coccapani, M. Chappell, op. cit., p. 40-1.
The largest group of sheets with this provenance is in the Uffizi and must have entered the collection with the Fondo Mediceo-Lorenese in the second half of the 17th Century. Four of Sigismondo's drawings are known to have entered Leopoldo de'Medici's collection in the latter part of 1674 or the beginning of 1675. Other drawings from the same source are in the Gabinetto Nazionale delle Stampe in Rome, in the Louvre, in the Ashmolean Museum and in private collections.
Many of the drawings listed by Chappell in 1978 are compositional works related to pictures by Cigoli and artists in his circle. Most of these are by Cigoli and relate to pictures of the artist's later period. The second largest group of drawings is by Sigismondo Coccapani and the rest are by Sigismondo's brother Giovanni, Cristofano Allori or are simply riccordi of compositions from Cigoli's studio, some in multiple versions.