Design for a decorative frieze with the emblem of Pope Sixtus V, and allegorical figures including Astronomy, flanked by putti (recto); An architectural study (verso)

Attributed to Giovanni Alberti by Kristina Herrmann-Fiore in her 1984 exhibition catalogue of the Alberti family’s graphic production, in which she reexamined the stylistic differences between the different family members, including the brothers Giovanni and Cherubino Alberti. Giovanni and Cherubino often worked on the same decorative projects in Rome, exploring similar decorative motifs in their drawings. An example of this collaboration is the decoration of the Sala del Concistoro in the Vatican, commissioned by Pope Sixtus V(1521-1590), executed between 1585 and 1590. Showing the papal emblem to the left in the frieze composition, the present drawing directly relates to this decoration. Hermann-Fiore attributed the sheet to Giovanni Alberti, in contrast to a similar design for a frieze by Cherubino of the same date in the Istituto Centrale per la Grafica, Rome (inv. F.N 12). A very comparable design by Giovanni was formerly in the Horvitz collection (sale Sotheby's, New York, 23 January 2008, lot 9). Stylistically, the present sheet also is comparable with an architectural design in the Louvre, Paris (inv. 1371; see Herrmann-Fiore, op. cit., p. 106, under no. 48).