LUCA PENNI
29 The Entombment
Black chalk, pen and brown ink, brown wash, and white
gouache heightening; H: 43 cm (i6I5/i6 in.); W: 60 cm
(23^5 /8 in.)
85.00.235
MARKS AND INSCRIPTIONS: None.
PROVENANCE: V. Blacker, London; sale, Sotheby's,
London, July 4, 1985, lot 52.
EXHIBITIONS: None.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: S. Beguin, L'ecole de Fontainebleau, exh.
cat., Grand Palais, Paris, 1972, p. 65, under no. 64.THE ATTRIBUTION OF THIS SHEET TO LUCA PENNI
was proposed by P. Pouncey (Sotheby's, 1985, lot 52),
who compared it to drawings in the Royal Library,
Windsor (inv. 0407), the Louvre, Paris (inv. 1394), and
the Stiftung Ratjen, Munich (Beguin 1972, nos. 136—
138). This attribution is supported not only by the sheet's
association with these drawings but also by its relation-
ship to a print by Rota after Penni's design, also of the
Entombment (Bii.i[2i5] v.33,16). The Museum's draw-
ing is compositionally related to one of the same subject
in the National Gallery of Scotland, Edinburgh (inv.
03215 ; Beguin 1972, no. 64); formerly considered to be
the work of Penni, it is now generally ascribed to Jean
Cousin the Elder.
The Museum's drawing clearly reflects Penni's con-
tinuing interest in Raphael. This is hardly surprising in
light of the fact that Penni's brother Giovanni Francesco
was an important member of Raphael's shop and that
Penni himself worked under Perino del Vaga at one
point. The technique of the drawing is striking, with cer-
tain key elements drawn over for emphasis, especially
various faces.^1 The sheet now has a somewhat chalky
cast, perhaps due to the desiccation of the wash.^2 The
study's purpose is not known, but—given the consid-
erable size of the sheet—it may have been made with a
painting in mind. Reference to a painting of this subject,
now lost, has been made by Beguin (1972, under no.
136), who has noted the unusual detail of children present
at the Entombment.^31. The tendency to accentuate outlines, particularly of facial
features, may also be seen in Penni's drawing Venus and Nymphs
Mourning the Dead Adonis (Haarlem, Teylers Museum,
inv. Ax82); see B. W. Meijer and C. vanTuyll, Disegni italianidel
Teylers Museum provenienti dalle collezioni di Cristina di Svezia ed
iprincipi Odescalchi, exh. cat., Istituto Universitario Olandese
di Storia dell'Arte, Florence, and Gabinetto Nazionale delle
Stampe, Rome, 1983-1984, no. 26.- K. Keyes, conversation with the author, Malibu, early 1986.
- It has been pointed out by C. B. Fuller that the composition
of the Museum's drawing repeats in all essentials the relief by
Donatello of the same subject on the pulpit in San Lorenzo,
Florence (letter to the author, May 12, 1987).
78 ITALIAN SCHOOL • PENNI