拍品專文
The present drawing, together with one of the head of Christ with similar medallion of the Crucifixion (Ghirardi, op. cit., fig. 55a), was described by Borghini in 1584 as in the collection of Ignazio Danti (1536-1586).
Danti was a celebrated astronomer, mathematician, architect, and cosmographer. He entered the Dominican Order in 1555. From 1576 to 1580 he lived in Bologna where he taught mathematics at the University. Passarotti was well acquainted with Danti, who praised the artist's skill in the use of the pen in his commentaries on Vignola's treatise Le due regole della prospettiva pratica published in Rome in 1583. Danti's friendship with Passarotti is even more apparent in the references to Bartolomeo's two sons, that he made in his book. Probably as a tribute to their friendship, Passarotti painted in 1577 a portrait of Danti holding a pair of compasses and pointing to a mathematical book, now in the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Brest, Ghirardi, op. cit., no. 55, pl. XII.
The two drawings were described by Borghini in both Passarotti's and Danti's lifetime as in the latter's collection: '.. two heads, one of Jesus and the other of the Virgin Mary, on an Imperial folio, perfectly executed in ink; and today, these are in the hands of friar Ignatio Danti, mathematician of His Holiness; he has arranged them in a book of drawings, executed by the most skilfull artists'. Indeed the finished type of these two drawings with their signatures suggests that they were drawn by Passarotti specifically for his friend Danti.
Danti was a celebrated astronomer, mathematician, architect, and cosmographer. He entered the Dominican Order in 1555. From 1576 to 1580 he lived in Bologna where he taught mathematics at the University. Passarotti was well acquainted with Danti, who praised the artist's skill in the use of the pen in his commentaries on Vignola's treatise Le due regole della prospettiva pratica published in Rome in 1583. Danti's friendship with Passarotti is even more apparent in the references to Bartolomeo's two sons, that he made in his book. Probably as a tribute to their friendship, Passarotti painted in 1577 a portrait of Danti holding a pair of compasses and pointing to a mathematical book, now in the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Brest, Ghirardi, op. cit., no. 55, pl. XII.
The two drawings were described by Borghini in both Passarotti's and Danti's lifetime as in the latter's collection: '.. two heads, one of Jesus and the other of the Virgin Mary, on an Imperial folio, perfectly executed in ink; and today, these are in the hands of friar Ignatio Danti, mathematician of His Holiness; he has arranged them in a book of drawings, executed by the most skilfull artists'. Indeed the finished type of these two drawings with their signatures suggests that they were drawn by Passarotti specifically for his friend Danti.