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Lot Essay
A preparatory drawing for the painting, now lost, executed by Vasari during the summer of 1538 for the monastery of Camaldoli outside Florence.
The Camaldoli monastery was one of the most important patrons of the youthful Vasari. Between 1537 and 1540, the artist painted three large altarpieces for the convent's church, all of which are still in situ. According to Vasari's Ricordanze, the inventory of his own commissions, on 3 August 1538 he received a further commission of two paintings with scenes from the life of Saint Romuald, the founder of the convent, K. and H.-W. Frey, Giorgio Vasari: Der literarische Nachlass, II, Munich, 1930, p. 856, no. 95. In the description of his own life at the end of the Vite, Vasari briefly describes the two paintings: 'Above the entrance I painted a view of the monastery ... and on the other side I painted a vision which the saint had experienced on the site where he then built his convent', Giorgio Vasari, 'Le vite de pi eccellenti pittori, scultori ed archittori' in L'opere di Giorgio Vasari, ed. G. Milanesi, 1878-85, VII, p. 664.
This is the only known sheet by Vasari that can be connected with the paintings. A copy after the present drawing in the Louvre was erroneously given to Vasari by P. Barocchi, an attribution later rejected by C. Monbeig-Goguel in her catalogue of the Vasari drawings at the Louvre, C. Monbeig-Goguel, Vasari et son temps, Paris, 1972, no. 330. The drawing corresponds closely to a painting in the Villa Floridiana, Naples, which, however, is not by Vasari's hand (G. Doria, La Floridiana, 1965, pl. 12, and described there as by Giovanni de'Vecchi). An attribution to Cristofano Gherardi, Vasari's assistant at that time, has been suggested by Paola Barocchi but was equally rejected by C. Monbeig-Goguel.
A copy after a lost drawing by Vasari, View of the Monastery of Camaldoli is also at the Louvre, C. Monbeig-Goguel, op. cit., no. 329.
We are grateful to Professor Hans-Ulrich Beck for his help regarding the provenance of this drawing.
The Camaldoli monastery was one of the most important patrons of the youthful Vasari. Between 1537 and 1540, the artist painted three large altarpieces for the convent's church, all of which are still in situ. According to Vasari's Ricordanze, the inventory of his own commissions, on 3 August 1538 he received a further commission of two paintings with scenes from the life of Saint Romuald, the founder of the convent, K. and H.-W. Frey, Giorgio Vasari: Der literarische Nachlass, II, Munich, 1930, p. 856, no. 95. In the description of his own life at the end of the Vite, Vasari briefly describes the two paintings: 'Above the entrance I painted a view of the monastery ... and on the other side I painted a vision which the saint had experienced on the site where he then built his convent', Giorgio Vasari, 'Le vite de pi eccellenti pittori, scultori ed archittori' in L'opere di Giorgio Vasari, ed. G. Milanesi, 1878-85, VII, p. 664.
This is the only known sheet by Vasari that can be connected with the paintings. A copy after the present drawing in the Louvre was erroneously given to Vasari by P. Barocchi, an attribution later rejected by C. Monbeig-Goguel in her catalogue of the Vasari drawings at the Louvre, C. Monbeig-Goguel, Vasari et son temps, Paris, 1972, no. 330. The drawing corresponds closely to a painting in the Villa Floridiana, Naples, which, however, is not by Vasari's hand (G. Doria, La Floridiana, 1965, pl. 12, and described there as by Giovanni de'Vecchi). An attribution to Cristofano Gherardi, Vasari's assistant at that time, has been suggested by Paola Barocchi but was equally rejected by C. Monbeig-Goguel.
A copy after a lost drawing by Vasari, View of the Monastery of Camaldoli is also at the Louvre, C. Monbeig-Goguel, op. cit., no. 329.
We are grateful to Professor Hans-Ulrich Beck for his help regarding the provenance of this drawing.