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拍品專文
A new addition to Veronese’s corpus of drawings, this double-sided sheet features three seated figures on the recto and notes and a design for a leaf on the verso. Rapidly but confidently rendered in pen and ink, the figure studies of three muscular men recall Michelangelo’s ignudi on the Sistine ceiling. Following a typical method in Veronese’s practice, the artist aligned the face of the man at left by placing a cross in the oval, a distinguishing detail that can be seen in many of his drawings, especially the early ones dating to the 1550s and 1560s (R. Cocke, Veronese’s Drawings with a Catalogue Raisonné, London, 1984, nos. 5-7, 11, 21, ill.).
Veronese’s frescoes in the church of San Sebastiano, Venice (circa 1555-60) could be a point of reference for the studies on the recto, close to the series of Apostles frescoed by the artist on the lower walls of the nave. The semi-circular lines, drawn on the sheet with the aid of a compass, reflect the shape of the spandrels of the lower walls of the nave, where the Apostles are frescoed. Close figural comparisons with sheets related to San Sebastiano seem to tighten the relationship of the present sheet to this early commission. The figure seen to the far right on a drawing at Chatsworth with studies for the series of Apostles (op. cit., no. 16, ill.) can be associated with the one turning his back to the right of the present sheet. Similarly, the figure in the middle leaning on his arm on the present drawing is closely comparable with the fourth from the right on the lower level in the Chatsworth sheet.
The adoption of a rather free pen technique, with loose figure contours, can be found in other studies usually connected with San Sebastiano, like a preparatory sketch for the prophet David in a private collection (op. cit., no. 16, ill.), which also features an ornamental design reminiscent of the pediment seen far right on the present sheet. Possibly related to similar ornamental partitions of the church is the text on the verso, written between personal notes likely by Veronese himself with a list of the artist’s tools, like a travel-size inkwell and a small ladder.
We are grateful to Xavier F. Salomon for confirming the attribution of the sheet to Paolo Veronese and for his assistance during the cataloguing of the present work.
Veronese’s frescoes in the church of San Sebastiano, Venice (circa 1555-60) could be a point of reference for the studies on the recto, close to the series of Apostles frescoed by the artist on the lower walls of the nave. The semi-circular lines, drawn on the sheet with the aid of a compass, reflect the shape of the spandrels of the lower walls of the nave, where the Apostles are frescoed. Close figural comparisons with sheets related to San Sebastiano seem to tighten the relationship of the present sheet to this early commission. The figure seen to the far right on a drawing at Chatsworth with studies for the series of Apostles (op. cit., no. 16, ill.) can be associated with the one turning his back to the right of the present sheet. Similarly, the figure in the middle leaning on his arm on the present drawing is closely comparable with the fourth from the right on the lower level in the Chatsworth sheet.
The adoption of a rather free pen technique, with loose figure contours, can be found in other studies usually connected with San Sebastiano, like a preparatory sketch for the prophet David in a private collection (op. cit., no. 16, ill.), which also features an ornamental design reminiscent of the pediment seen far right on the present sheet. Possibly related to similar ornamental partitions of the church is the text on the verso, written between personal notes likely by Veronese himself with a list of the artist’s tools, like a travel-size inkwell and a small ladder.
We are grateful to Xavier F. Salomon for confirming the attribution of the sheet to Paolo Veronese and for his assistance during the cataloguing of the present work.