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拍品专文
One of the most significant projects of Federico Zuccaro’s productive career was the enormous fresco decorating the cupola of Santa Maria del Fiore, Florence’s cathedral (see C. Acidini Luchinat, Taddeo e Federico Zuccari. Fratelli pittori del Cinquecento, Milan and Rome, 1999, II, pp. 65-97). The decoration of Brunelleschi’s masterpiece was first entrusted to Giorgio Vasari, but after his death in 1574, Zuccaro took over the task, painting the remaining of the eight segments of the dome. Finished in 1578 and unveiled in 1579, the compositional and iconographic complexity bears witness to the Federico's considerable powers of invention.
This drawing relates to the upper section of the West segment of the dome (fig. 1). A multitude of angels gather in a dizzying display of intricate groupings and daring foreshortening, much of it di sotto in sù, just below the trompe-l'œil cornice on which sit the Elders of the Apocalypse, and which is supported by the angels flanking the composition. In between these two playful caryatids, a flying angel holds Christ’s robe, while another juggles with the dice used after the Crucifixion to determine which soldier could take the garment home. Of a vivid red in the fresco, the robe hovers above the dome’s segment of which the bottom is occupied by the horrid vision of Lucifer devouring sinners.
As was his habit, Zuccaro worked on the cupola, and on the section which is the subject of the present drawing, in a large number of sheets of which the function and exact order is not always easy to determine (for a discussion, see G. Smith, ‘A Drawing by Federico Zuccaro for the Last Judgement in Florence Cathedral’, Bulletin. The University of Michigan, Museums of Art and Archaeology, I, 1978, pp. 26-41). Most comparable to the drawing offered here are one in the Albertina (inv. 39988; see V. Birke and J. Kertész, Die italienischen Zeichnungen der Albertina, IV, Vienna, Cologne and Weimar, 1997, pp. 2588-2589, ill.), and one at the University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor, Michigan (inv. 1973/2.81; see E. Olszewski, A Corpus of Drawings in Midwestern Collections. Sixteenth-century Italian Drawings, II, Turnhout, 2008, no. 405, ill.). The Vienna drawing is largely identical in composition to the present drawing, and also the unusual mauve wash, but lacks the vibrant penmanship, and must be a neat repetition. The version in Ann Arbor is somewhat closer to the painted composition, but appears to be of lesser quality than either preceding drawing; certainly a copy (corresponding in composition with the version in Ann Arbor) is the drawing at the Weisman Art Museum, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis (inv. 70.3.36; see Olszewski, op. cit., no. 406, ill.).
Two studies for the angel at upper left are preserved in a sheet at the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa (inv. 5577; Acidini Luchinat, op. cit., p. 79, fig. 20), of which the searching quality is similar to that of the present drawing. Two more sheets show a larger part of the West segment: one (which also include a design by Zuccaro for the North-West and North segments) in the British Museum (inv. 1953,0731.48; see J.A. Gere and P. Pouncey, Italian Drawings in the British Museum. Artists Working in Rome, London, 1983, no. 309), and one recorded in the Franchi collection, Bologna (Acidini Luchinat, op. cit., p. 79, fig. 19, as by Zuccaro or Stefano Pieri). Despite the wealth of material related to the section of the grand commission, none of these drawings offers as exciting a demonstration of the best qualities of Federico Zuccaro’s draughtsmanship as does the present sheet.
This drawing relates to the upper section of the West segment of the dome (fig. 1). A multitude of angels gather in a dizzying display of intricate groupings and daring foreshortening, much of it di sotto in sù, just below the trompe-l'œil cornice on which sit the Elders of the Apocalypse, and which is supported by the angels flanking the composition. In between these two playful caryatids, a flying angel holds Christ’s robe, while another juggles with the dice used after the Crucifixion to determine which soldier could take the garment home. Of a vivid red in the fresco, the robe hovers above the dome’s segment of which the bottom is occupied by the horrid vision of Lucifer devouring sinners.
As was his habit, Zuccaro worked on the cupola, and on the section which is the subject of the present drawing, in a large number of sheets of which the function and exact order is not always easy to determine (for a discussion, see G. Smith, ‘A Drawing by Federico Zuccaro for the Last Judgement in Florence Cathedral’, Bulletin. The University of Michigan, Museums of Art and Archaeology, I, 1978, pp. 26-41). Most comparable to the drawing offered here are one in the Albertina (inv. 39988; see V. Birke and J. Kertész, Die italienischen Zeichnungen der Albertina, IV, Vienna, Cologne and Weimar, 1997, pp. 2588-2589, ill.), and one at the University of Michigan Museum of Art, Ann Arbor, Michigan (inv. 1973/2.81; see E. Olszewski, A Corpus of Drawings in Midwestern Collections. Sixteenth-century Italian Drawings, II, Turnhout, 2008, no. 405, ill.). The Vienna drawing is largely identical in composition to the present drawing, and also the unusual mauve wash, but lacks the vibrant penmanship, and must be a neat repetition. The version in Ann Arbor is somewhat closer to the painted composition, but appears to be of lesser quality than either preceding drawing; certainly a copy (corresponding in composition with the version in Ann Arbor) is the drawing at the Weisman Art Museum, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis (inv. 70.3.36; see Olszewski, op. cit., no. 406, ill.).
Two studies for the angel at upper left are preserved in a sheet at the National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa (inv. 5577; Acidini Luchinat, op. cit., p. 79, fig. 20), of which the searching quality is similar to that of the present drawing. Two more sheets show a larger part of the West segment: one (which also include a design by Zuccaro for the North-West and North segments) in the British Museum (inv. 1953,0731.48; see J.A. Gere and P. Pouncey, Italian Drawings in the British Museum. Artists Working in Rome, London, 1983, no. 309), and one recorded in the Franchi collection, Bologna (Acidini Luchinat, op. cit., p. 79, fig. 19, as by Zuccaro or Stefano Pieri). Despite the wealth of material related to the section of the grand commission, none of these drawings offers as exciting a demonstration of the best qualities of Federico Zuccaro’s draughtsmanship as does the present sheet.