.jpg?w=1)
Lot Essay
This previously unidentified drawing is a preliminary study for the frontispiece of the second volume of Zanotti's Storia dell'Accademia Clementina di Bologna, published in Bologna in 1739 (fig. 1). Although the frontispiece is not inscribed with the name of the engraver it would seem logical that Zanotti, who is recorded as a printmaker, also designed and executed the frontispiece. As he was both the founder and the first secretary of the Accademia, it is unlikely that he would have delegated to another artist the task of illustrating its history. It is also possible that the drawing master in this study is a self-portrait, as his features, particularly the large nose, accord with those in a pen and ink portrait of Zanotti by Bigari, C.C. Pedrielli, Vittorio Maria Bigari, Bologna, 1991, no. 121, illustrated.
The book was intended to continue Malvasia's Felsina Pittrice, so that there would be a history of Bolognese painting from the late 16th Century to the foundation of the Accademia. It was divided into four books split into two volumes: the first gives a history of the Accademia from its establishment; the second and third are devoted to biographies of the seventy members; and the last is a catalogue of the Accademici d'onore, which included painters such as Ricci and Piazzetta and connoisseurs like Crozat.
In 1706 Zanotti called together the most eminent artists in Bologna to meet in the Palazzo Fava (a familiar place to most of them because as young artists they would have copied the frescoes of the Carracci there), to sign a document calling for the Senate of the city to establish an academy. Although the Senate agreed to the idea, little was done until the arrival in 1708 of Luigi Ferdinando Marsili, who had recently returned from France to be the head of the Papal army. Marsili, who was already pressing for the establishment of an academy of science, obtained the support of Pope Clement XI whose patronage, since Bologna was under Papal control, was all important. The Academy was named in his honour and the fourteen artists chosen by Marsili (including Cignani, Franceschini, Crespi, Creti, and, naturally, Zanotti) met in his house to elect the officers and to formulate the statutes. Cignani was elected Principal, Franceschini Vice-Principal, and Zanotti Secretary; a post which he held until 1759. The Academy consisted of forty members elected from among the leading painters, sculptors, engravers and architects. The principal aim of the Accademia Clementina was to train young students to continue in the great tradition of Bolognese art of the previous century. In 1710 the Academy was formally established, and the school opened soon after in a palace owned by Conte Fava. In 1712 both the academies of art and science moved into the Palazzo Poggi, which had been acquired by the Senate. The most complete account of the foundation and history of the Accademia is given by Silla Zamboni, L'Accademia Clementina, in L'Arte del Settecento Emiliano, exhib. cat., Palazzi del Podestà e di Re Enzo, Bologna, 1979, pp. 211-18.
The teaching was divided up between eight academicians, called directors, selected by the Principal: four painters and sculptors, and four architects who, apart from their own discipline, were also responsible for perspective. The Academy opened in November and closed at Easter. In the Summer, from mid-June to mid-August, in the cooler hours of the morning and evening the Scuola del Nudo was open in the large room off the courtyard. Between Easter and mid-June the students were supposed to study the Academy's collection of statues; such as the cast of the Farnese Hercules shown in the back of the drawing.
It is instructive to compare this drawing with Giovanni Battista Tiepolo's slightly earlier representation of Piazzetta's informal academy sold in these Rooms, 6 July 1993, lot 90, illustrated in colour. Both include an oil lamp hanging from a rope so that the height could be changed to vary the shadows but, whereas the Venetian students were drawing the nude illuminated only from this source, the unshuttered windows in the Palazzo Poggi would have necessitated the lamp to be lit only in the evenings. Piazzetta clearly wanted dramatic contrasts of light and shade while the Bolognese school (with the notable exception of the oiled black chalk academies of Guercino and Faccini) generally favoured more even lighting; particularly classicists such as Cignani and Franceschini who, rather than their contemporaries Crespi, dal Sole and Burrini, were the dominant forces in the early history of the Accademia Clementina. The shift in style of the next generation of academicians is reflected in a drawing by Pietro Antonio Novelli (fig. 2) sold at Christie's, New York, 13 January 1987, lot 65, illustrated, probably dating from his visit to Bologna in 1773, depicting the Scuola del Nudo with the model posed, as noted in his inscription, by Vittorio Bigari. The Novelli drawing shows the nude lit by a lamp set in a concave screen to focus the light on the body, thereby creating the contrasts of light and shade favoured by Bigari, Monti and, slightly later, the Gandolfi.
The present sheet shows the preliminary stages of a session of drawing the nude with the director posing the model while the students, one accompanied by his dog, engage in animated conversation. The engraving differs from the drawing in only one respect: the rope holding up the lamp is omitted.
The book was intended to continue Malvasia's Felsina Pittrice, so that there would be a history of Bolognese painting from the late 16th Century to the foundation of the Accademia. It was divided into four books split into two volumes: the first gives a history of the Accademia from its establishment; the second and third are devoted to biographies of the seventy members; and the last is a catalogue of the Accademici d'onore, which included painters such as Ricci and Piazzetta and connoisseurs like Crozat.
In 1706 Zanotti called together the most eminent artists in Bologna to meet in the Palazzo Fava (a familiar place to most of them because as young artists they would have copied the frescoes of the Carracci there), to sign a document calling for the Senate of the city to establish an academy. Although the Senate agreed to the idea, little was done until the arrival in 1708 of Luigi Ferdinando Marsili, who had recently returned from France to be the head of the Papal army. Marsili, who was already pressing for the establishment of an academy of science, obtained the support of Pope Clement XI whose patronage, since Bologna was under Papal control, was all important. The Academy was named in his honour and the fourteen artists chosen by Marsili (including Cignani, Franceschini, Crespi, Creti, and, naturally, Zanotti) met in his house to elect the officers and to formulate the statutes. Cignani was elected Principal, Franceschini Vice-Principal, and Zanotti Secretary; a post which he held until 1759. The Academy consisted of forty members elected from among the leading painters, sculptors, engravers and architects. The principal aim of the Accademia Clementina was to train young students to continue in the great tradition of Bolognese art of the previous century. In 1710 the Academy was formally established, and the school opened soon after in a palace owned by Conte Fava. In 1712 both the academies of art and science moved into the Palazzo Poggi, which had been acquired by the Senate. The most complete account of the foundation and history of the Accademia is given by Silla Zamboni, L'Accademia Clementina, in L'Arte del Settecento Emiliano, exhib. cat., Palazzi del Podestà e di Re Enzo, Bologna, 1979, pp. 211-18.
The teaching was divided up between eight academicians, called directors, selected by the Principal: four painters and sculptors, and four architects who, apart from their own discipline, were also responsible for perspective. The Academy opened in November and closed at Easter. In the Summer, from mid-June to mid-August, in the cooler hours of the morning and evening the Scuola del Nudo was open in the large room off the courtyard. Between Easter and mid-June the students were supposed to study the Academy's collection of statues; such as the cast of the Farnese Hercules shown in the back of the drawing.
It is instructive to compare this drawing with Giovanni Battista Tiepolo's slightly earlier representation of Piazzetta's informal academy sold in these Rooms, 6 July 1993, lot 90, illustrated in colour. Both include an oil lamp hanging from a rope so that the height could be changed to vary the shadows but, whereas the Venetian students were drawing the nude illuminated only from this source, the unshuttered windows in the Palazzo Poggi would have necessitated the lamp to be lit only in the evenings. Piazzetta clearly wanted dramatic contrasts of light and shade while the Bolognese school (with the notable exception of the oiled black chalk academies of Guercino and Faccini) generally favoured more even lighting; particularly classicists such as Cignani and Franceschini who, rather than their contemporaries Crespi, dal Sole and Burrini, were the dominant forces in the early history of the Accademia Clementina. The shift in style of the next generation of academicians is reflected in a drawing by Pietro Antonio Novelli (fig. 2) sold at Christie's, New York, 13 January 1987, lot 65, illustrated, probably dating from his visit to Bologna in 1773, depicting the Scuola del Nudo with the model posed, as noted in his inscription, by Vittorio Bigari. The Novelli drawing shows the nude lit by a lamp set in a concave screen to focus the light on the body, thereby creating the contrasts of light and shade favoured by Bigari, Monti and, slightly later, the Gandolfi.
The present sheet shows the preliminary stages of a session of drawing the nude with the director posing the model while the students, one accompanied by his dog, engage in animated conversation. The engraving differs from the drawing in only one respect: the rope holding up the lamp is omitted.