Federico Zuccaro (1540-1609)

THE PROPERTY OF A NOBLEMAN

Details

Federico Zuccaro (1540-1609)

David and Goliath (recto); A female Nude with Geese (verso)

with inscriptions 'Zuccari' (recto) and 'di Federigo Zuccaro' (verso); red chalk, pen and brown ink, brown wash, the lower section (the figure of Goliath) lightly squared in black chalk (recto), red chalk (verso)
304 x 252mm.

Provenance

An unidentified collector's mark HL
Anon. sale, Christie's, 29 November 1983, lot 16, illustrated ((1,512)

Exhibited

Toronto, Art Gallery of Ontario and New York, The Pierpont Morgan Library, Italian Drawings from the Collection of Duke Roberto Ferretti, 1985, no. 21, illustrated
Milwaukee, Art Museum and New York, National Academy of Design, Renaissance into Baroque, Italian Master Drawings by the Zuccari 1550-1600, 1990, no. 82, illustrated

Lot Essay

James Mundy suggested that this dates from around 1580. Although there are no works directly related to the recto, the figure of David is very close to that of Hercules slaying Cacus in the Palazzo Zuccaro. The red chalk figure on the verso may be related to Annibale Caro's programme for the Camera dell' Aurora at Caprarola, where he suggested that in the grotteschi there should be figures with animals, like geese and other birds, that herald the arrival of dawn

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