NICOLO DELL'ABATE
24 Saint Catherine of Alexandria
at the Wheel
Black chalk, brush and brown ink, and white gouache
heightening on tan paper, irregularly shaped; H: 55.7 cm
(2iI5/i6in.); W: 42. 1 cm (i6^9 /i6in.)
84.00.65 0
MARKS AND INSCRIPTIONS: None.
PROVENANCE: William, second duke of Devonshire,
Chatsworth; by descent to the current duke (sale, Chris-
tie's, London, July 3, 1984, lot 28); art market, London.
EXHIBITIONS: Old Master Drawings from Chatsworth,
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., and other
institutions, 1962-1963, no. 2 (catalogue by A. E. Pop-
ham). Mostra di Nicolo * dell'Abate, Palazzo dellArchigin-
nasio, Bologna, September-October 1969, no. 37 (cat-
alogue by S. Beguin). Correggio and His Legacy: Sixteenth
Century Emilian Drawings, National Gallery of Art,
Washington, D.C., and Galleria Nazionale, Parma,
March-May and June-July 1984, no. 78 (catalogue by
D. DeGrazia).
BIBLIOGRAPHY: J. Bean, "Chatsworth Drawings in
America," Master Drawings i, no. i (1963), p. 53; G.
Godi, Nicolo deWAbate e lapresunta attivitd del Parmigianino
a Soragna (Parma, 1976), pp. 78-79; J. Byam Shaw,
"Drawings from Chatsworth," Apollo 119, no. 268
(June 1984), p. 458.
AMONG THE LARGEST AND MOST IMPORTANT OF
Nicolo's drawings, this sheet was first attributed to him
by Popham (1962-1963, no. 2), who noted that the figure
of God the Father at the upper left also appears in a fresco
of unknown date by Nicolo, the Adoration of the Shep-
herds, formerly in the portico of the Palazzo Leoni, Bo-
logna (destroyed).^1 Beguin (1969, p. 95) has associated the
drawing with a painting by Nicolo, the Martyrdom of
Saints Peter and Paul (1547; Dresden, Gemaldegalerie),
and with the battle fresco of uncertain date in the Palazzo
Comunale, Modena. DeGrazia (1984, p. 242) has noted
the similarity between the landscapes in the Dresden
painting and the drawing. All of these relationships sup-
port Beguin's dating of the drawing to 1547-1550.
In addition to associations with certain of the artist's
other works, the drawing reflects his interest in Pordeno-
ne, on whose ceiling fresco in the Cappella della Con-
cezione, San Francesco, Cortemaggiore, the upper
group of figures depends (DeGrazia 1984, p. 242). Ni-
colo's accomplishment here is notable in that he has in-
tegrated the two complex sets of figures against an elab-
orate landscape background. The representation of Saint
Catherine exemplifies his graceful figure style.i. The fresco is known through prints by Giuseppe Maria Mi-
telli and Gaetano Gandolfi (Beguin 1969, nos. 67, 68).68 ITALIAN SCHOOL • NICOLO DELL'ABATE