RAPHAEL (Raffaello Sanzio) (attributed to)
1483-152 0
40 Female Figure with a Tibia,
Ornamental Studies'
Ornamental Studies
v
(Recto) pen and brown ink, black chalk underdrawing;
(verso) brown ink; H: 30.5 cm (12 in.); W: 18.9 cm (j^7 A6
in.)
88.GA.90
MARKS AND INSCRIPTIONS: (Verso) inscribed Lippi (fra
filippo) Carmalitano dafirenze 1381-1438 in brown ink.
PROVENANCE: Private collection, France (sale, Hôtel
Drouot, Paris, June 19, 1986, lot 214); art market,
Boston.
EXHIBITIONS: None.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: None.THE PRINCIPAL FIGURE AND SUBSIDIARY ORNAMENTAL
studies on this sheet^1 clearly reflect the work of Filippino
Lippi, especially his frescoes in the Cappella Strozzi,
Santa Maria Novella, Florence, and a painting, the Al-
legory of Music (Berlin, Staatliche Museum Preussischer
Kulturbesitz). In addition to indicating a knowledge
of his figurai style, the inclusion of the infrequently
represented tibia brings to mind Filippino's considerable
interest in the rendering of somewhat arcane musical
instruments. Similarly, the fragmentary study of orna-
ment along the left margin of the recto is analogous to
his decorative vocabulary. However, the graphic manner
is not very close to Filippino's pen drawings, as a com-
parison with his double-sided sheet of women in the Frits
Lugt Collection, Institut Néerlandais, Paris (inv. 4984),
reveals. The draughtsmanship of the Museum's sheet is
calmer, more selective, and more classical.
At the same time, the Getty drawing contains qual-
ities that tie it to the work of Perugino. The pose, pro-
portions, and expressive character of the figure are not
unlike those in Perugino's fresco Venus and Cupid in the
vault of the Sala dell'Udienza, Collegio del Cambio, Pe-
rugia, completed in 1500. The ornamental detail in the
Museum's drawing also finds parallels in the same group
of frescoes.However, the draughtsman here was not Perugino
but a more progressive and classical artist, possibly the
young Raphael. Raphael's interest in Filippino s frescoes
in the Cappella Strozzi is documented by a sheet with
copies after them in the Louvre (inv. 3 848), and he would
naturally have had a keen appreciation for the Collegio
del Cambio frescoes. Furthermore the selective emphasis
here in executing details—such as the left leg and chin—
is a characteristic mannerism of Raphael's draughtsman-
ship during his early years in Umbria. Similarly, the clas-
sical female profile recurs throughout his drawings of
this period. Lastly, an analogue to the pose and the fine
parallel hatching in the top part of the figure can be found
in a study of an angel in the Musée des Beaux-Arts, Lille
(inv. 444). These similarities are not sufficient to firmly
attribute the drawing to Raphael, however, and the hy-
pothesis needs to be tested further.
A copy of the female figure on the recto, by an anon-
ymous early sixteenth-century artist, is in the Uffizi (inv.
199 E).i. The appearance of the drawing is somewhat affected by rub-
bing of the surface in certain areas, such as the top half of the
head, the right leg and its drapery, and the left elbow and drap-
ery near it.verso100 ITALIAN SCHOOL • RAPHAEL (ATTRIB.)