European Drawings 2: Catalogue of the Collections

THIS DRAWING WAS MADE AS A PREPARATORY STUDY

for the central section of the chapel ceiling in the Hôtel

de Guise, Paris, painted by Nicolô dellAbate with fres-

coes designed by Primaticcio and generally dated to circa

1555-60. The decoration of the chapel, destroyed in the

early nineteenth century, is known through written de-

scriptions, prints, and several drawings by Primaticcio.

The central part of the ceiling showed God the Father in

glory surrounded by angels. An apparently complete

preparatory study for it, squared for transfer, is in the

Louvre (inv. 8510). In it God is shown seated, his right

arm extended; the angels spreading drapery around him

are depicted in a wide variety of complex poses. The Mu-

seum's drawing consists of studies of arms that in all but

one case—the sketch at the bottom left corner—reappear

in the Louvre modello. It seems likely that, after establish-

ing the composition as a whole and the poses of individ-

ual figures, Primaticcio went on to make studies of de-

tails, as evidenced here. The technique of the drawing,

with red chalk and white highlights made with great pre-

cision and refinement, recalls the metalpoint drawings of

Raphael.

i. The Deglatigny sale catalogue (Hôtel Drouot 1937) records

an inscription in chalk on the verso of the former mount: Vendu

chez Mariette 42 i. les deux parties du n° 632.

IO 2 ITALIAN SCHOOL • PRIMATICCIO

38 Study of God the Father with

Angels

Red chalk and white gouache heightening on pink pre-
pared paper; H: 17. i cm (6^3 /4Ín.); W: 22.4 cm (8I3/i6 in.)
88.GB. 5

MARKS AND INSCRIPTIONS: At bottom left corner,
collection marks of P.J. Mariette (L. 1852), Defer-
Dumesnil (L. 739), Louis Deglatigny (L. I768a); at
bottom right corner, inscribed 122 in black ink,
PRIMATITIO in brown ink.^1

PROVENANCE: Pierre Crozat(P), Paris (sale, Mariette,
Paris, April io-May 13, 1741, part of lot 410); P.J. Mar-
iette, Paris (sale, F. Basau, Paris, November 15 et seq.,
1775 , part of lot 632); Pierre Defer, Paris; Henri Dumes-
nil, Paris (sale, Hôtel Drouot, Paris, May n, 1900, lot
241); Louis Deglatigny, Rouen (sale, Hôtel Drouot,
Paris, June 15, 1937, lot 197); sale, Hôtel Drouot, Paris,
March 10, 1986, lot 17; art market, London.

EXHIBITIONS: None.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: None.