Drawn to Drama Italian Works on Paper 1500–1800
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Drawn to Drama Italian Works on Paper 1500–1800 October 12, 2008–January 4, 2009 Drawn to Drama Italian Works on Paper, 1500–1800 October 12, 2008–January 4, 2009 The grand narrative tradition ignited during the Renaissance remained central to the visual arts in Italy until the modern period. Dramatic, multifigure compositions portraying mytho- logical, religious, or historical events were considered the highest calling for painters. Only these subjects, it was thought, could fire the passions of the viewer and raise his or her moral consciousness. The artist’s ability to render the human figure, “the measure of all things,” was essential to any narrative painting’s aesthetic and iconographic effectiveness, and this skill was mastered through drawing. Drawn to Drama presents a survey of Italian draftsmanship from the early six- teenth to the late eighteenth centuries. It features the spectrum of drawing types, from sketches of expressive heads and nude figures to elaborate compositional studies for altarpieces and ceiling frescoes. Half the drawings are from the Clark’s own holdings, and half are borrowed from a private collection; many have rarely or never been seen by the public. In the exhibition they are arranged in groupings that underscore the themes and pictorial strategies that occupied Italian artists across three centuries. Whatever the subject, artists sought to meet a variety of challenges: to make complex or obscure episodes meaningful for the ordinary viewer; to inspire the spectator, emotionally or aesthetically; or to bring new vitality to commonly depicted subjects. It was also during this period that connoisseurs began to collect drawings, appreciating them as works of art in their own right and as windows into the creative process. For viewers today, this remains among the drawings’ greatest appeal. This exhibition was organized by the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute. COVER: Detail of Head of a Satyr, 1596, by Giuseppe Cesari, called Cavaliere d’Arpino; INSIDE FROM LEFT TO RIGHT: Detail of Saturn Devouring His Children, c. 1635–40, by Johann Paul Schor; Detail of Head of a Woman, Early 1490s, by Giovanni Antonio Boltraffio; Detail of Standing Male Nude, c. 1735–40, by Francesco Fontebasso; The Choice of Hercules, 1712, by Paolo de Matteis; Detail of The Crucifixion, c. 1651, by Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione Project1 10/2/08 11:30 AM Page 1 Giovanni Battista Pace Cristoforo Roncalli, Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo Italian, active c. 1650–c. 1664 called Il Pomarancio Italian, 1727–1804 Exhibition Checklist Saint John the Baptist in a Landscape Italian, c. 1553–1626 The Burial of Saint Anne c. 1660 Studies of an Angel Playing the c. 1770–90 Pen and brown ink with brown Viola da Gamba Pen and brush with brown ink and brown Giovanni Antonio Boltraffio Ciro Ferri Jacopo da Empoli wash on paper c. 1610 wash on paper 3 1 7 7 Italian, 1466/67–1516 Italian, 1634–1689 Italian, c. 1554–1640 11 ⁄4 x 8 ⁄2 inches Red chalk on paper 18 ⁄8 x 14 ⁄8 inches 1 7 Head of a Woman The Resurrection Saint Joseph Collection of Robert Loper 14 ⁄4 x 9 ⁄8 inches Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute Early 1490s c. 1660 c. 1600–10 Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute Silverpoint on paper Pen and brown ink with brown wash, black Pen and brown ink with brown wash over Paolo Pagani Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo 7 7 Italian, c. 1661–1716 Italian, 1727–1804 5 ⁄8 x 4 ⁄8 inches chalk, and white heightening on paper black chalk on paper squared in red chalk Cristoforo Roncalli, called Il Pomarancio 1 3 3 The Resurrection Italian, c. 1553–1626 A Disputation between Kings Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute 12 ⁄4 x 7 ⁄4 inches 10 x 4 ⁄8 inches Collection of Robert Loper Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute c. 1700 Two Studies of a Youth and Priests Giuseppe Cades Pen and brown ink with brown c. 1600–10 c. 1770–90 Italian, 1750–1799 Artist unknown (Florentine School) Benedetto Luti wash over red chalk on paper Black chalk on blue paper Pen and brush with brown ink and brown 1 1 1 3 The Coronation of the Virgin 17th century Italian, 1666–1724 12 ⁄2 x 8 ⁄2 inches 12 ⁄2 x 17 ⁄4 wash over black chalk on paper 3 c. 1790–99 The Baptism of Christ A Bearded Apostle Reading Collection of Robert Loper Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute 19 ⁄8 x 15 inches Pen and brown ink on paper c. 1620 1712 Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute 3 1 11 ⁄4 x 17 ⁄2 inches Pen and brown ink with blue wash Pastel and chalk on paper Jacopo Palma il Giovane Giovanni Battista Ruggieri, called 1 Collection of Robert Loper on paper 16 ⁄8 x 13 inches Italian, c. 1548–1628 Battistino del Gessi Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo 1 Italian, 1606–1640 Italian, 1724–1804 12 x 9 ⁄2 inches Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute Saint Onophrius in the Wilderness Luca Cambiaso Collection of Robert Loper c. 1610–20 The Assumption of the Virgin Galloping Centaur Italian, 1527–1585 Pietro Malombra Pen and brown ink with brown c. 1630 c. 1755–65 The Annunciation Francesco Fontebasso Italian, 1556–1618 wash over black chalk on paper Pen and brown ink with blue wash and Pen and brown ink with brown wash 1 3 c. 1568 Italian, 1707–1769 The Finding of the True Cross 8 ⁄4 x 5 ⁄4 inches white heightening on paper on paper 1 3 5 3 Pen and brown ink with brown The Martyrdom of Saint Alexander c. 1595 Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute 18 ⁄2 x 10 ⁄8 inches 7 ⁄8 x 10 ⁄4 inches and gray washes on paper of Bergamo Pen and brown ink with brown wash over Collection of Robert Loper Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute 1 11 ⁄2 x 8 inches c. 1730–35 black chalk with white heightening on Jacopo Palma il Giovane Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute Pen and brown ink with brown wash and blue paper Italian, c. 1548–1628 Andrea del Sarto Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo 3 1 Italian, 1486–1530 Italian, 1727–1804 Gift of Robert and Lillian Fraker in memory white heightening on paper 10 ⁄8 x 16 ⁄2 inches Sheet of Studies for a 5 3 Study of Drapery The Liberation of Saints Peter of John and Alice Steiner 15 ⁄8 x 16 ⁄8 inches Collection of Robert Loper Frescoed Ceiling Collection of Robert Loper c. 1578 1510–13 and John from Prison Domenico Campagnola Carlo Maratta Pen and brown ink on paper Black chalk on paper c. 1770–90 1 3 Italian, 1500–1564 Italian, 1625–1713 3 1 10 ⁄4 x 13 ⁄8 inches Francesco Fontebasso 11 ⁄4 x 8 ⁄8 inches Pen and brush with brown ink and brown The Virgin and Child in a Landscape Italian, 1707–1769 Head of Saint Sebastian Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute, Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute wash over black chalk on paper 1 with Saints Michael and Jerome Standing Male Nude 1685–90 Williamstown, Massachusetts 19 ⁄8 x 15 inches c. 1520–25 c. 1735–40 Black chalk with white heightening on Johann Paul Schor Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute Pen and brown ink over black chalk Pen and brown ink on paper paper Giuseppe Passeri Austrian, active in Italy, 1615–1674 3 1 3 1 Saturn Devouring His Children on paper 14 ⁄4 x 10 ⁄2 inches 14 ⁄4 x 10 ⁄2 inches Italian, 1654–1714 Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo 1 3 c. 1635–40 Italian, 1727–1804 12 ⁄2 x 10 ⁄4 inches Collection of Robert Loper Collection of Robert Loper The Assumption of the Virgin Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute c. 1685 Pen and brown ink with brown wash and Nebuchadnezzar Returning from Battista Franco, called Il Semolei Giuseppe Marchesi, called Il Sansone Pen and brown ink with pink wash and white heightening on paper the Wilderness to His Palace 3 Domenico Maria Canuti Italian, c. 1510–1561 Italian, 1699–1771 white heightening on paper 8 ⁄4 x 10 inches c. 1770–90 Saint Benedict Raising a Child 1 3 Collection of Robert Loper Italian, 1625–1684 Head of a Soldier 10 ⁄8 x 8 ⁄4 inches Pen and brown ink with brown wash over A Seated Prophet with an c. 1545–55 c. 1740 Collection of Robert Loper black chalk on paper Jan van der Straet, called Stradanus 3 1 Alternative Study of his Head Red chalk on paper Pen and brown ink with brown wash on 19 ⁄8 x 15 ⁄8 inches 1 7 Flemish, active in Italy, 1523–1605 c. 1677–78 15 ⁄4 x 9 ⁄8 inches paper Lorenzo Peracini Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute 1 3 The Ascension Pen and brown ink with sanguine and Collection of Robert Loper 17 ⁄8 x 10 ⁄4 inches Italian, 1710–1790 brown washes over red chalk Collection of Robert Loper The Martyrdom of Saint Barbara 1590 Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo on paper Ubaldo Gandolfi 1742 Pen and brown ink with brown wash and Italian, 1727–1804 1 5 Italian, 1728–1781 Pietro Marchesini white heightening on paper 8 ⁄4 x 6 ⁄8 inches Pen and black ink with gray wash The Young Virgin Accepts the Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute The Entombment of Christ Italian, 1692–1757 on paper 12 x 9 inches Scarlet and the Pure Purple 3 Collection of Robert Loper c. 1750 The Vision of Saint Margaret 9 ⁄4 x 13 inches c. 1770–90 Giovanni Benedetto Castiglione Pen and brown ink with brown wash of Cortona Collection of Robert Loper Giovanni Battista Tiepolo Pen and brown ink with brown and gray Italian, 1609–1664 on paper 1728 washes over black chalk on paper 1 Italian, 1696–1770 1 1 The Crucifixion 8 x 11 ⁄2 inches Red chalk on paper Perino del Vaga 19 ⁄4 x 15 ⁄8 inches 1 1 The Annunciation c.