FRANCESCO VANNI (1563-1610)

DESIGN FOR AN ALTARPIECE: THE MYSTIC MARRIAGE OF SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA WITH SAINT JOHN THE BAPTIST IN A FRAME DECORATED WITH ROSES AND CIRCULAR CARTOUCHES

Details

FRANCESCO VANNI (1563-1610)
DESIGN FOR AN ALTARPIECE: THE MYSTIC MARRIAGE OF SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA WITH SAINT JOHN THE BAPTIST
IN A FRAME DECORATED WITH ROSES AND CIRCULAR CARTOUCHES
INSCRIBED 'QUI VANO I MISTERII DEL ROSARIO' AND 'QU.E LA CORNICE CHE VA DI LEGNIAME FINTA DI NOCE E BOUSTATA DI ORO' AND WITH INSCRIPTION 'F: VANIUS'
BLACK CHALK, PEN AND BROWN INK, BROWN AND RED WASH, ARCHED
233 X 178 MM.

Provenance

SIR JAMES KNOWLES.
WYNDHAM BIRCH.

Literature

J. POPE-HENNESSY,'SOME ASPECTS OF THE CINQUECENTO IN SIENA', ART IN AMERICA, APRIL 1943, P. 74, ILLUSTRATED.
J. POPE-HENNESSY, LEARNING TO LOOK, NEW YORK, 1991, P. 314.

Exhibited

LONDON, BURLINGTON FINE ARTS CLUB, EXHIBITION OF PICTURES OF THE SCHOOL OF SIENA, 1904, NO. 73.
LONDON, AGNEW'S, ART HISTORIANS AND CRITICS AS COLLECTORS, 1965, NO. 34.

Lot Essay

THIS DRAWING CANNOT BE CONNECTED WITH ANY OF VANNI'S KNOWN PAINTINGS. IN 1601 HE TREATED THE SUBJECT IN A FAMOUS PAINTING OF THE MYSTIC MARRIAGE OF SAINT CATHERINE IN THE CHIESA DEL REFUGIO, SIENA, OF 1601, FOR WHICH LOT 93 IS A PREPARATORY STUDY. THE PRESENT DRAWING IS OF PARTICULAR INTEREST AS IT SHOWS SEVERAL INSCRIPTIONS BY VANNI. ONE REFERS TO THE DECORATIVE BORDER AROUND THE PAINTING IN WHICH THE 'MYSTERIES OF THE ROSARY' WOULD HAVE BEEN DEPICTED; THE OTHER RELATES TO THE FRAME WHICH WAS MEANT TO BE MADE OF WOOD SIMULATING WALNUT WHICH WOULD THEN HAVE BEEN GILDED.
DELLA VALLE (LETTERE SANESI SOPRA LE BELLE ARTI, VENICE, 1782, III, P. 347) DESCRIBES A RELATED PAINTING, SHOWING THE MADONNA OF THE ROSARY WITH SAINT CATHERINE OF SIENA, OUTSIDE SAN QUIRICO D'ORCIA. THE PRESENT DRAWING SEEMS TO BE AN EARLY WORK FROM AROUND 1585-8, POPE-HENNESSY, OP. CIT., 1943, PP. 74-5.

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