Lot Essay
An old inscription attributes the drawing to Giovanni Battista Bertani. The date '1542', barely visible, is inscribed in the same white heightening as that of the drawing. This date coincides with the time when Bertani was working under Giulio Romano at the court of Mantua. Only a few drawings by Bertani are known, but all belong to a different category from this one. The only securely attributable drawing is a pen and brown ink study, related to a print, at the Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, D.J. Johnson, Old Master Drawings, Providence, 1983, no. 3, illustrated. Another drawing by the same hand, also executed in pen and brown ink, was sold in these rooms, 4 July 1995, lot 11, illustrated.
The drawing's painterly technique and the figure types seem to be close to drawings by Amico Aspertini. The expressive gestures of the figures, as well as the extensive use of white heightening and close hatching, suggest that the artist of the present sheet had first-hand knowledge of Aspertini's work.
The subject of the drawing has not yet been satisfactorily explained. It seems to represent a complex allegory with a female figure in the centre wearing a crown (or a tower?) on her head and with an open book on her lap. In the Renaissance, Cybele, the ancient Phrygian 'earth mother', was often represented with a mural crown, but not with a book. The figure seems to be accepting presents brought to her by nude and half-nude figures. One of them, the nude to the right of her, is loosely based on antique sculptures representing Mithras. On the left of the female figure, a group of older men, possibly philosophers, seem to be involved in a dispute, while another group, further back, is drawing attention to a large curtain being pulled back in the background. The question remains whether the drawing illustrates a specific, possibly mythological, story or whether it is based on a literary invention, with possible moral content.
Another drawing attributed to Bertani, lot 21 of the present sale, reveals the artist's activities as an architect.
The drawing's painterly technique and the figure types seem to be close to drawings by Amico Aspertini. The expressive gestures of the figures, as well as the extensive use of white heightening and close hatching, suggest that the artist of the present sheet had first-hand knowledge of Aspertini's work.
The subject of the drawing has not yet been satisfactorily explained. It seems to represent a complex allegory with a female figure in the centre wearing a crown (or a tower?) on her head and with an open book on her lap. In the Renaissance, Cybele, the ancient Phrygian 'earth mother', was often represented with a mural crown, but not with a book. The figure seems to be accepting presents brought to her by nude and half-nude figures. One of them, the nude to the right of her, is loosely based on antique sculptures representing Mithras. On the left of the female figure, a group of older men, possibly philosophers, seem to be involved in a dispute, while another group, further back, is drawing attention to a large curtain being pulled back in the background. The question remains whether the drawing illustrates a specific, possibly mythological, story or whether it is based on a literary invention, with possible moral content.
Another drawing attributed to Bertani, lot 21 of the present sale, reveals the artist's activities as an architect.