PAOLO VERONESE (PaoloCaliari)
52 Christ Preaching in the Temple
Pen and brown ink; H: 7.8 cm (3^16 in.); W: 17.5 cm
(6^7 /s in.)
83.GA.266
MARKS AND INSCRIPTIONS: At bottom right corner,
collection mark of Jonathan Richardson, Sr. (L. 2183).
PROVENANCE: Jonathan Richardson, Sr., London; S.
Schwartz, New York; art market, Boston.EXHIBITIONS: Drawings from New York Collections: The
Italian Renaissance, Metropolitan Museum of Art and
Pierpont Morgan Library, New York, 1965-1966, no.
125 (catalogue by J. Bean and F. Stampfle). Early Venetian
Drawings from Private Collections and the Fogg, Fogg Art
Museum, Harvard University, Cambridge, February-
April 1983.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: H. Tietze, "Nuovi disegni veneti del
Cinquecento in collezioni americani," Arte veneta 2, nos.
5-8 (1948), p. 60; R. Cocke, "An Early Drawing by Pao-
lo Veronese," Burlington Magazine 113, no. 825 (Decem-
ber 1971), pp. 726, 729-730; D. Rosand, "Three Draw-
ings by Paolo Veronese," Pantheon 29, no. 3 (1971), pp.
203-204; T. Pignatti, Veronese (Venice, 1976), vol. i, p.
in; R. Cocke, Veronese's Drawings—A Catalogue Rai-
sonne (London, 1984), pp. 18, 37, 39.
THIS DRAWING HAS ALWAYS BEEN RECOGNIZED AS A
compositional study for Veronese's painting Christ
Preaching in the Temple (Madrid, Prado), which is now
dated by many scholars to 1548. Rosand (1971, pp. 203 -
204) has noted the artist's use of elaborate hatching and
the absence of wash as well as a certain hesitancy in ex-
ecution, which he has explained as indications of the
sheet's early date. Cocke (1971, pp. 729-730; 1984, p. 18)
has developed the analysis by pointing to the influence of
Parmigianino's graphic style. Despite these analyses and
the supposed date of 1548 for the painting in Madrid, it
is difficult to understand this drawing as emerging from
so early a point in Veronese's career. In fact it appears to
have much in common with several drawings of around
1570 (Cocke 1984, nos. 57, 58). This being the case, the
dating of both painting and drawing remains puzzling.^1
The drawing is perhaps a first thought concerning this
complex composition and leaves out many elements that
appeared later, including the entire background. There
are also numerous individual changes that occurred as the
composition developed. The sheet has obviously been
cut, perhaps eliminating some further studies for the
scene. A chalk drawing for the man seated at the front left
of the composition has been published by Cocke (1984,
no. 2).i. I am grateful to R. Rearick for conveying his doubts about
the early dating of the Madrid painting to me in a recent
conversation.126 ITALIAN SCHOOL • VERONESE