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Lot Essay
A study for one of the illustrations of De Florum Cultura (fig. 1) written by the Sienese Jesuit Father, Giovanni Battista Ferrari (1582-1655). The Latin edition of the book was published, with financial assistance from Cardinal Francesco Barberini, the nephew of Pope Urban VIII, in Rome in 1633, and an Italian translation of it was published in 1638. In the latter, the Cortona plate related to the present drawing was sometimes replaced by one after Lanfranco, D. Freedberg, op. cit., fig. 7. The book, as the title suggests, treats the subject of flowers: how to cultivate them and, once they had been cut, the ways in which to use them for decoration. The book goes into great detail about flower arranging, which the author recommended as a worthy pursuit for young noblemen. The book, which is among the earliest that focuses on gardening, rather than herbal or medicinal use of plants, reflects the scholarship of the author, who was acknowledged as one of the most stylish writers of Latin of his age.
Ferrari managed to obtain the services of some of the most fashionable painters in Rome through his close friendship with Cassiano dal Pozzo, the Cardinal's secretary. The book includes engravings of great refinement by Greuter and Mellan after drawings by Pietro da Cortona, Francesco Barberini's favoured painter; Andrea Sacchi, who was to work almost exclusively for Francesco's brother, Antonio; and Guido Reni. Without the backing of Cassiano, and thereby the Barberini, it would have been inconceivable that Ferrari, an indigent and rather unworldly scholar, could have persuaded such artists to work for him. Cassiano's intervention is also evident in Ferrari's later book, the Hesperides, published in 1646, which was illustrated with prints after the same artists but with the addition of Poussin. Cortona evidently responded to the sophisticated antiquarian taste of his patron: the figure of Jupiter in the drawing is based on a sculpture of the god, then in the Farnese Collection (P. Bober and R. Rubinstein, Renaissance Artists and Antique Sculpture, Oxford, 1986, fig. 1), which, according to the identification proposed by Merz, he had copied in a drawing of the 1620s, now at Windsor, for Cassiano's Paper Museum, J.M. Merz, op. cit., fig. 312. The only other known drawing related to the engraving is a red chalk study for Jupiter, which presumably predates the present sheet, in the Farnesina, Rome, Merz, op. cit., fig. 309. Two other Cortona preparatory drawings for illustrations for De Florum Cultura are in the Prado (Flora stung by a Bee) and the Metropolitan Museum (Flora and Bacchus), M.B. Mena Marqués, Museo del Prado, Dibujos Italianos del Siglo XVII, Madrid, 1983, fig. 104; and J. Bean, op. cit., no. 134, illustrated.
The plates illustrate the stories which Ferrari recounts to explain the origins of a particular plant, or an aspect of gardening. The story to which this drawing is related (pp. 91-8; the engraving is on p. 99) tells of the coming of flowers on earth. The loggia of the gods is described as being surrounded by a sea of flowers. The gods gathered at a golden table are served flowers mixed with spices that have been cultivated by Flora. She encourages them to enjoy the nectar like the bees (a punning reference to the Barberini emblem) and, following her example, they begin to eat with great pleasure. Flora urges the gods to help man grow flowers on earth, rather than the weeds and odourless or poisonous plants that flourish there. The goddess is helped by one hundred girls of noble aspect with pinkish complexion, blond hair and dressed in transparent, delicate linen. Their wings are described as being of different colours and, when they move through the air, they spread a sweet fragrance. The youngest of these, Aurilla, is told by Jupiter to fetch Cybele so that the earth should also yield nectar for the gods. After a long search she eventually finds Cybele who is described as wearing a cloak embroidered with vegetables, fruits and weeds. Persuaded to attend the feast she mounts her chariot pulled by a lion. On her arrival, Flora, who has been busy criticising her indolence, mocks her, saying that the gods were ready for a sweet end to the meal and all that she brings is weeds. Cybele defends herself, stating that only weeds will grow in the sand and ashes of the earth. The council of the gods agrees that Flora should help Cybele grow flowers on earth, and to this end the soil should be enriched with manure and the weeds removed. An edict to this effect, held up by Cybele in the drawing, and signed by Jupiter, is ordered to be posted on earth by Zephyr, the kneeling youth, to exort all gardeners to cultivate flowers. This event marks the passing of the Age of Iron to that of flowers. The print differs little from the drawing except for the omission of the floral swags and the vault above the outer columns.
Ferrari managed to obtain the services of some of the most fashionable painters in Rome through his close friendship with Cassiano dal Pozzo, the Cardinal's secretary. The book includes engravings of great refinement by Greuter and Mellan after drawings by Pietro da Cortona, Francesco Barberini's favoured painter; Andrea Sacchi, who was to work almost exclusively for Francesco's brother, Antonio; and Guido Reni. Without the backing of Cassiano, and thereby the Barberini, it would have been inconceivable that Ferrari, an indigent and rather unworldly scholar, could have persuaded such artists to work for him. Cassiano's intervention is also evident in Ferrari's later book, the Hesperides, published in 1646, which was illustrated with prints after the same artists but with the addition of Poussin. Cortona evidently responded to the sophisticated antiquarian taste of his patron: the figure of Jupiter in the drawing is based on a sculpture of the god, then in the Farnese Collection (P. Bober and R. Rubinstein, Renaissance Artists and Antique Sculpture, Oxford, 1986, fig. 1), which, according to the identification proposed by Merz, he had copied in a drawing of the 1620s, now at Windsor, for Cassiano's Paper Museum, J.M. Merz, op. cit., fig. 312. The only other known drawing related to the engraving is a red chalk study for Jupiter, which presumably predates the present sheet, in the Farnesina, Rome, Merz, op. cit., fig. 309. Two other Cortona preparatory drawings for illustrations for De Florum Cultura are in the Prado (Flora stung by a Bee) and the Metropolitan Museum (Flora and Bacchus), M.B. Mena Marqués, Museo del Prado, Dibujos Italianos del Siglo XVII, Madrid, 1983, fig. 104; and J. Bean, op. cit., no. 134, illustrated.
The plates illustrate the stories which Ferrari recounts to explain the origins of a particular plant, or an aspect of gardening. The story to which this drawing is related (pp. 91-8; the engraving is on p. 99) tells of the coming of flowers on earth. The loggia of the gods is described as being surrounded by a sea of flowers. The gods gathered at a golden table are served flowers mixed with spices that have been cultivated by Flora. She encourages them to enjoy the nectar like the bees (a punning reference to the Barberini emblem) and, following her example, they begin to eat with great pleasure. Flora urges the gods to help man grow flowers on earth, rather than the weeds and odourless or poisonous plants that flourish there. The goddess is helped by one hundred girls of noble aspect with pinkish complexion, blond hair and dressed in transparent, delicate linen. Their wings are described as being of different colours and, when they move through the air, they spread a sweet fragrance. The youngest of these, Aurilla, is told by Jupiter to fetch Cybele so that the earth should also yield nectar for the gods. After a long search she eventually finds Cybele who is described as wearing a cloak embroidered with vegetables, fruits and weeds. Persuaded to attend the feast she mounts her chariot pulled by a lion. On her arrival, Flora, who has been busy criticising her indolence, mocks her, saying that the gods were ready for a sweet end to the meal and all that she brings is weeds. Cybele defends herself, stating that only weeds will grow in the sand and ashes of the earth. The council of the gods agrees that Flora should help Cybele grow flowers on earth, and to this end the soil should be enriched with manure and the weeds removed. An edict to this effect, held up by Cybele in the drawing, and signed by Jupiter, is ordered to be posted on earth by Zephyr, the kneeling youth, to exort all gardeners to cultivate flowers. This event marks the passing of the Age of Iron to that of flowers. The print differs little from the drawing except for the omission of the floral swags and the vault above the outer columns.