Ridolfo Ghirlandaio (Florence 1483-1561)

The Virgin and Child

Details

Ridolfo Ghirlandaio (Florence 1483-1561)
The Virgin and Child
pen and brown ink, pricked for transfer, the corners cut
4 3/8 x 2 ¼ in. (11.1 x 5.6 cm)

Provenance

Jonathan Richardson Sr. (1665-1745), London (L. 2183), with his associated mount.
Probably his sale; Christopher Cock, London, 22 January to 8 February 1747.
Ray Livingston Murphy, New York; Christie's, London, 12 December 1985, lot 152 (as Fra Bartolommeo).
Anonymous sale; Christie's, London, 8 July 2008, lot 2 (as attributed to Ridolfo Ghirlandaio).

Literature

W.M. Griswold, ‘Early Drawings by Ridolfo Ghirlandaio’, Master Drawings, XXVII, no. 3, Fall 1989, pp. 218-219 and pl. 25b.
R.J.M. Olson, ed., The Art of Drawing. Selections from the Wheaton College Collection, exhib. cat., Norton, MA, 1997, p. 44, under no. 52.
Sotheby’s, London, Old Master & British Drawings, 4 July 2012, p. 9, under lot 2.

Brought to you by

Jonathan den Otter

jdenotter@christies.com +44 (0) 207 389 2736

Lot Essay

According to his friend Giorgio Vasari, the young Ridolfo Ghirlandaio was first trained by his uncle Davide and then practised under the guidance of Fra Bartolomeo, whose graphic style is strongly referenced in this drawing, first identified by William Griswold (op. cit.). The sheet belongs to a core group of drawings (circa 1510-20) defined by a strong Neo-Quattrocento character, all executed in pen and ink with figures shaded with neat hatching and crosshatching, the closest in size being a study for a bishop and a saint in Wheaton College (ibid., pl. 25a). A drawing by Fra Bartolommeo might have served as a model for this tall Virgin holding the Child (see Lehman Collection, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, inv. 1975.1.271, and, the Uffizi, GDSU inv. 489 E).

More from Old Master and British Drawings and Watercolours Including Works from the Collection of Jean Bonna

View All