Paolo Farinati (Verona 1524-1606)
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Paolo Farinati (Verona 1524-1606)

Four female figures about to flee from Pluto

Details
Paolo Farinati (Verona 1524-1606)
Four female figures about to flee from Pluto
with numbers ‘433’ and ‘98.’
black chalk, pen and brown ink, brown wash, squared in black chalk
5 1/8 x 10 3/8 in. (13 x 26.5 cm)
Provenance
Dr. A. von Ritter van Wurzbach-Tonnenberg (1845-1915), Vienna (L. 2587 and L. 203, his inscription '613/ Paolo Farinati./ TH [? interlaced]/ K2/ aw 1903'.
Unidentified collector's mark, not in Lugt.
with Colnaghi, Old Master Drawings, London 1982, no. 19, pl. 6.
Literature
D. De Grazia Bohlin, ‘Paolo Farinati in the Palazzo Giuliari: Frescoes and preparatory drawings’, Master Drawings, XX, 1982, no. 4, pp. 347-69, pl. 7.
Special notice
These lots have been imported from outside the EU for sale using a Temporary Import regime. Import VAT is payable (at 5%) on the Hammer price. VAT is also payable (at 20%) on the buyer’s Premium on a VAT inclusive basis. When a buyer of such a lot has registered an EU address but wishes to export the lot or complete the import into another EU country, he must advise Christie's immediately after the auction.

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Jonathan den Otter
Jonathan den Otter

Lot Essay

A study for the fresco at the South wall in the Sala di Persofene, at the Palazzo Giuliari in Verona, showing Persephone and her companions picking flowers before they flee to escape capture by Pluto (De Grazia Bohlin, op. cit., fig. 12). In the drawing the artist closed the composition at the right with a decorative volute, behind which can be seen the legs of Pluto as he carries off a captive, leg again visible. Until they were published by De Grazia Bohlin in 1982, the frescoes were virtually unknown (although they are mentioned in the literature and 19th-Century guidebooks) due to the fact that they were only rediscovered in 1965. While no documentation for the commission survives, De Grazia Bohlin has argued that they can be dated before or around 1573.

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