Attributed to Francesco Melzi (Milan circa 1491-1570 Vaprio d'Adda)

Caricatured heads of a man in academic dress and a woman wearing a coif, after Leonardo

Details

Attributed to Francesco Melzi (Milan circa 1491-1570 Vaprio d'Adda)
Caricatured heads of a man in academic dress and a woman wearing a coif, after Leonardo
pen and brown ink, unframed
1¾ x 4 1/8 in. (4.3 x 10.3 cm.)

Provenance

The Earls of Pembroke, Wilton House; Sotheby's, London, 10 July 1917, lot 466.
Probably with Bacri Frères, Paris, from whom purchased in about 1924 by
Edward Fowles, Paris and New York.
Anonymous sale; Christie's, London, 7 July 1998, lot 59, where purchased by the present owner.

Literature

S.A. Strong, Reproductions in Facsimile of Drawings by the Old Masters in the Collection of the Earl of Pembroke and Montgomery at Wilton House, 1902, II, pl. 15 (as part of the Wilton sheet).
C. Pedretti and P. Trutty-Coohill, The Drawings of Leonardo da Vinci and his Circle in America, Florence, 1993, no. 30a.
M. Kwakkelstein, Leonardo da Vinci as a physiognomist: Theory and drawing practice, Leiden, 1994, pp. 107-8, note 223, fig. 57 (as part of the Wilton sheet).
C. Bambach, Leonardo da Vinci: Master Draughtsman, exhib. cat., New York, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 2003, p. 680, under no. 136.
F. Viatte and V. Forcione, Léonard de Vinci: Dessins et manuscrits, exhib. cat., Paris, Musée du Louvre, 2003, pp. 201, 204 and 220, under nos. 69, 70 and Folio 20 verso.

Brought to you by

Benjamin Peronnet

Check the condition report or get in touch for additional information about this

bperonnet@christies.com +44 (0)20 7389 2272

If you wish to view the condition report of this lot, please sign in to your account.

View condition report

Lot Essay

Formerly part of a larger sheet of caricatures after Leonardo which was in the collection of the Earls of Pembroke at Wilton. The man and woman in the present drawing also appear on a sheet by an unknown 16th-Century Lombard artist, representing Three Grotesque Couples, in the Louvre (inv. 2296) and the man features, alone, in one of the drawings from the Mariette album in the Louvre (inv. RF 28757). Leonardo's original drawings of both characters were formerly at Chatsworth, where the drawing of the woman remains (inv. 824D); the drawing of the man, which was sold in these Rooms, 3 July 1984, lot 22, is now in a private collection in New York (Bambach, op. cit., no. 71).

More from Old Master & Early British Drawings & Watercolours

View All