Giorgio Vasari (Arezzo 1511-1574 Florence)

The Arms of the House of Medici impaling those of the Archduchy of Austria with the Cross of the Order of Santo Stefano

Details

Giorgio Vasari (Arezzo 1511-1574 Florence)
The Arms of the House of Medici impaling those of the Archduchy of Austria with the Cross of the Order of Santo Stefano
black chalk, pen and brown ink, brown wash, squared in brown ink, minor losses from silverfish
7.3/8 x 5¼ in. (18.8 x 13.2 cm.)

Provenance

W. Bates (L. 2604).
Anonymous sale; Sotheby's, London, 13 March 1975, lot 179, as Circle of Stefano della Bella.
Sir Timothy Clifford; Sotheby's, London, 3 July 1989, lot 33, as Attributed to Vasari.
Anonymous sale; Christie's, London, 3 April 1995, lot 9.

Literature

J. Kliemann, Gesta dipinte: la grande decorazione nelle dimore italiane dal Quattrocento al Seicento, Cinisello Balsamo, 1993, p. 109, note 4.
L. Fairbairn, Italian Renaissance Drawings from the Collection of Sir John Soane's Museum, London, 1998, vol. II, p. 518.

Exhibited

Kendal, Abbot Hall Art Gallery, 16th and 17th Century Italian Drawings, 1981, no. 23.

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Lot Essay

As the Order of Santo Stefano was only founded in 1562, and the crown visible on top of the crest is not the coronet which Cosimo de' Medici used after he was created Grand Duke of Tuscany in 1569, the drawing must date from between these two years. The combination of the Medici and Austrian arms suggests that it may be related to the decorations erected in Florence for the marriage of Francesco I de' Medici to Archduchess Giovanna d'Austria in December 1565. We are grateful to Dr Florian Haerb, who has confirmed that he will include this drawing in his forthcoming catalogue raisonné of Vasari's drawings.

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