European Drawings - 1, Catalogue of the Collections

GIULIO ROMANO (GiulioPippi)

15 An Allegory of the Virtues of

Federico II Gonzaga

Pen and brown ink, black chalk, and white gouache used

for heightening and corrections; H: 24.9 cm (9I3/i6 in.);

W: 31.8 cm (12 ^ in.)

84.GA.64 8

MARKS AND INSCRIPTIONS: At bottom left corner, col-

lection mark of William, second duke of Devonshire

(L. 718); at bottom right corner, collection mark of Sir

Peter Lely (L. 2092).

PROVENANCE: Sir Peter Lely, London; William, second
duke of Devonshire, Chatsworth; by descent to the cur-
rent duke (sale, Christie's, London, July 3, 1984, no. 17);
art market, Boston.

EXHIBITIONS: Italian Art and Britain, Royal Academy of
Arts, London, 1960, no. 571 (catalogue by E. Water-
house). Old Master Drawings from Chatsworth, Smithson-
ian Institution, Washington, D.C., and other institu-
tions, 1962-1963, no. 25 (catalogue by A. E. Popham).
Old Master Drawings—A Loan from the Collection of the
Duke of Devonshire, Israel Museum, Jerusalem, April-
July 1977, no. 22.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: E. Habich, "Handzeichnungen italien-
ischer Meister," Kunstchronik (July 21, 1892), p. 545, no.
64; F. Hartt, Giulio Romano (New Haven, 1958), vol. i,
p. 147, no. 178; P. Pouncey and J. A. Gere, Italian Draw-
ings in the Department of Prints and Drawings in the British
Museum: Raphael and his Circle (London, 1962), p. 62, un-
der no. 79; E. Verheyen, The Palazzo del Te in Mantua
(Baltimore and London, 1977), fig. 35; J. Martineau,
Splendors of the Gonzaga, exh. cat., Victoria and Albert
Museum, London, 1981, p. 189, under no. 166.

THIS IS A STUDY FOR THE CENTRAL CEILING FRESCO

the Sala dAttilio Regolo in the Casino della Grotta of t

Palazzo del Te, Mantua. This addition at the northea

corner of the garden was built around 1530, and the de

oration was completed by 1534. The iconography co

sists of a central seated personification of the city of Ma

tua receiving various attributes, and was obvious

intended to glorify the reign of Federico Gonzaga.

The Museum's drawing follows another study f

this scene in the British Museum, London (inv. 1895-

15-642; Pouncey and Gere 1962, pi. 72). The earli

drawing is predictably less developed in that the figure

the left is only indicated in black chalk, and Mercury (

the upper right) is not yet present. A notable pentimen

occurs in the Museum's drawing in the right arm of t

woman (placed to right of center) who holds a wreat

her right arm was originally extended, and she held

book. A further drawing related to this fresco is in t

Louvre (inv. 3501), but its authorship is uncertain.

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50 ITALIAN SCHOOL • GIULIO ROMANO