Lot Essay
According to the transcription of the inscription on the drawing this may be a design for an altarpiece for the church of Santa Maria degli Angeli in the village of Apricale in Liguria between San Remo and Ventimiglia. Apricale in the 16th Century was under the control of Genoa and thus was ruled by Andrea Doria from 1528 onward.
Perino del Vaga fled Rome in 1527 during the Sack and took refuge in Genoa, where he worked extensively for the Doria family, executing the decoration of the Palazzo Doria, which he completed in 1533, as well as the triumphal arches for Emperor Charles V's entry into Genoa in 1529. During the 1530s Perino also designed an altarpiece for Andrea Doria, for which the preparatory drawing in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, shows on the top the Doria escutcheon, L. Wolk-Simon, The 'Pala Doria' and Andrea Doria's Mortuary Chapel: A Newly Discovered Project by Perino del Vaga, Artibus et Historiae, 1992, XXVI, p. 164, fig. 1.
This drawing carries size indications in the same handwriting as the ones on the present sheet and those on the drawing for the Charles V's arch, now in the Staatliche Museen, Berlin, A. Parma Armani, Perin del Vaga, L'anello mancante, Genoa, 1986, fig. 82. On all these drawings Perino carefully noted the dimensions of every part of the altarpiece, to allow the patrons to have an idea of its proportions, as well as giving instructions to the frame maker. The frame shown in the present drawing would have measured twelve feet high and nine wide (one Genoese palmo=9¾ in.) and would contain eight pictures on three levels, a rather archaic structure for an early 16th Century altarpiece, but typical of Genoa. Few altarpieces of this kind survived. An idea of the arrrangement of the panels can be found in a dismembered altarpiece painted by Perino for the church of San Michele in Celle Ligure and in another of Saint Erasmus now in the Accademia Ligustica di Belle Arti in Genoa, A. Parma Armani, op. cit., fig. 208. A similar frame is found again in Perino's modello at Chatsworth for a picture painted for the Duomo in Pisa, M. Jaffé, The Devonshire Collection of Italian Drawings, Roman and Neapolitan Schools, London, 1994, no. 364, illustrated. The frame of the Pisa picture was sculpted by Stagio Stagi in 1532 and, similar to the present drawing, shows two burning candelabras at the top.
The present drawing is probably a modello that was presented to the patron who inscribed and dated it 29 June 1534 which is why it may as well be connected with the decoration of the Capella dell'Incoronazione in the Duomo, Pisa. It is most likely that at the time the patron signed the present drawing, Perino was already in Pisa where he signed a document dated four days later. On 3 July 1534 Perino received 150 lire from the operating body of Duomo as an advance for a picture he was to execute for the chapel of Saint John and Saint George in order to pay taxes and for land for his house. The present drawing could then also be connected with the program of the decoration which similarly represents an Assumption. A drawing comparable in handling to the present lot to the has been connected with the Pisa commission is in the British Museum, P. Pouncey and J. Gere, Italian Drawings in the Department of Prints and Drawings in the British Museum: Raphael and his Circle, London, 1962, no. 166, pl. 134. The picture at Apricale is untraced and the present drawing could have been used by Perino for the Pisa commission.
We are extremely grateful to Dr. Paul Joannides for first suggesting the attribution, which was confirmed by Bernice Davidson, Linda Wolk-Simon, and Elena Parma Armani. We are also grateful to Chris Michaelides, Dr. Martin Davies and Laura Nuvoloni for their help in elucidating the inscription.
Perino del Vaga fled Rome in 1527 during the Sack and took refuge in Genoa, where he worked extensively for the Doria family, executing the decoration of the Palazzo Doria, which he completed in 1533, as well as the triumphal arches for Emperor Charles V's entry into Genoa in 1529. During the 1530s Perino also designed an altarpiece for Andrea Doria, for which the preparatory drawing in the National Gallery of Art, Washington, shows on the top the Doria escutcheon, L. Wolk-Simon, The 'Pala Doria' and Andrea Doria's Mortuary Chapel: A Newly Discovered Project by Perino del Vaga, Artibus et Historiae, 1992, XXVI, p. 164, fig. 1.
This drawing carries size indications in the same handwriting as the ones on the present sheet and those on the drawing for the Charles V's arch, now in the Staatliche Museen, Berlin, A. Parma Armani, Perin del Vaga, L'anello mancante, Genoa, 1986, fig. 82. On all these drawings Perino carefully noted the dimensions of every part of the altarpiece, to allow the patrons to have an idea of its proportions, as well as giving instructions to the frame maker. The frame shown in the present drawing would have measured twelve feet high and nine wide (one Genoese palmo=9¾ in.) and would contain eight pictures on three levels, a rather archaic structure for an early 16th Century altarpiece, but typical of Genoa. Few altarpieces of this kind survived. An idea of the arrrangement of the panels can be found in a dismembered altarpiece painted by Perino for the church of San Michele in Celle Ligure and in another of Saint Erasmus now in the Accademia Ligustica di Belle Arti in Genoa, A. Parma Armani, op. cit., fig. 208. A similar frame is found again in Perino's modello at Chatsworth for a picture painted for the Duomo in Pisa, M. Jaffé, The Devonshire Collection of Italian Drawings, Roman and Neapolitan Schools, London, 1994, no. 364, illustrated. The frame of the Pisa picture was sculpted by Stagio Stagi in 1532 and, similar to the present drawing, shows two burning candelabras at the top.
The present drawing is probably a modello that was presented to the patron who inscribed and dated it 29 June 1534 which is why it may as well be connected with the decoration of the Capella dell'Incoronazione in the Duomo, Pisa. It is most likely that at the time the patron signed the present drawing, Perino was already in Pisa where he signed a document dated four days later. On 3 July 1534 Perino received 150 lire from the operating body of Duomo as an advance for a picture he was to execute for the chapel of Saint John and Saint George in order to pay taxes and for land for his house. The present drawing could then also be connected with the program of the decoration which similarly represents an Assumption. A drawing comparable in handling to the present lot to the has been connected with the Pisa commission is in the British Museum, P. Pouncey and J. Gere, Italian Drawings in the Department of Prints and Drawings in the British Museum: Raphael and his Circle, London, 1962, no. 166, pl. 134. The picture at Apricale is untraced and the present drawing could have been used by Perino for the Pisa commission.
We are extremely grateful to Dr. Paul Joannides for first suggesting the attribution, which was confirmed by Bernice Davidson, Linda Wolk-Simon, and Elena Parma Armani. We are also grateful to Chris Michaelides, Dr. Martin Davies and Laura Nuvoloni for their help in elucidating the inscription.