AGNOLO BRONZING
1503-1572
7 Study of Jealousy
Black chalk; H: 16.2 cm (6^3 / 8 in.); W: 12 cm (4II/i6 in.)
88.GG.io 8
MARKS AND INSCRIPTIONS: (Recto) at bottom right
corner, collection marks of Jonathan Richardson, Sr.
(L. 2183), Sir Joshua Reynolds (L. 2364); (verso) on
mount, inscribed Lfc(?) .57.64^. in brown ink.
PROVENANCE: Jonathan Richardson, Sr., London; Sir
Joshua Reynolds, London; Michel Gaud, Saint-Tropez
(sale, Sotheby's, Monaco, June 20, 1987, lot 33); art mar-
ket, London.
EXHIBITIONS: None.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: K. Bellinger and C. McCorquodale,
Drawing in Florence 1500-1650, exh. cat. (Harari and
Johns, London, 1991), under no. 5.
THIS IS A STUDY FOR THE FIGURE USUALLY CONSIDERED
to represent Jealousy in Bronzino's Allegory of Venus and
Cupid (London, National Gallery), as was first pointed
out by M. di Giampaolo (Sotheby's 1987). For the draw-
ing, Bronzino used a studio model to develop the posi-
tion of the hands and right arm while presumably leaving
the face and hair for another study now in the Victoria
and Albert Museum (inv. CAi.4i6). He expended consid-
erable effort on the areas of particular interest, analyzing
the details of the arm and hands with great care and ar-
riving at solutions close to those employed in the paint-
ing. Since an X ray of the painting shows that Bronzino
initially painted the hands higher and more horizontally
across the head,^1 the drawing appears to have been made
relatively late in the picture's execution. Despite his pre-
cise draughtsmanship on the Museum's sheet, the study
contains clear pentimenti along the elbow and inner side
of the right arm. The face, obviously of no importance
here, is only suggested by a few lines. The draughtsman-
ship is closest to the portrait study at Chatsworth (inv.
714) and the drawing of the Christ child in the Galleria
degli Uffizi, Florence (inv. 6639 F).i. The X ray was kindly brought to our attention by G. Smith
in 1990.32 ITALIAN SCHOOL • BRONZINO