LORENZO COSTA
CIRCA 1459/60-1535
16 A Thebaid: Monks and
Hermits in a Landscape
Pen and brown ink; H: 20.4 cm (8 in.); W: 20.6 cm (8Vs
in.)
8y.GA.ii
MARKS AND INSCRIPTIONS: At bottom right, inscribed
69 in black ink; at bottom right corner, collection marks
of Countess Rosa Piatti-Lochis (L. 2O26c), Ferruccio
Asta (L. n6a).
PROVENANCE: Countess Rosa Piatti-Lochis, Venice;
Ferruccio Asta, Venice; sale, Sotheby's, New York, Jan-
uary 16, 1986, lot 9; art market, London.
EXHIBITIONS: None.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: None.
THIS DRAWING MADE ITS INITIAL APPEARANCE IN THE
literature in a sale at Sotheby's in 1986 as "attributed to
Piero di Cosimo." Although it bears some general re-
semblance to Piero's work, especially in terms of its com-
position, the drawing is Bolognese in origin. The latter
observation is due to P. Pouncey, who tentatively sug-
gested an attribution to Amico Aspertini on the basis of
the similarity between this drawing and one in the UfFizi
(inv. 166 E), Saint Cecilia before the Proconsul.^1 The latter
and the resulting fresco in the Oratorio di Santa Cecilia,
Bologna, have been the subject of considerable dispute;
recent opinion concerning the drawing appears to favor
the authorship of Lorenzo Costa.^2 The most convincing
basis for this attribution is the relationship between the
sheet and another one in the UfFizi (inv. 178 E), the
Coronation of the Virgin, made in preparation for Costa's
painting in San Giovanni in Monte, Bologna.^3 The two
UfFizi drawings provide a strong case in favor of ascrib-
ing the Museum's study of the Thebaid to Costa, since its
style and handling fall directly between them. Further-
more it has close affinities with other drawings by
him, such as Calvary: The Raising of the Cross (Oxford,
Christ Church inv. 0281). A date of circa 1505 for the
Museum's drawing would seem to emerge from these
comparisons.- M. Faietti et al., Bologna e Vumanesimo 1490-1510, exh. cat.
(Pinacoteca Nazionale, Bologna, 1988), no. 71. - Ibid., under no. 71 (entry by M. Faietti).
- Ibid., no. 70.
52 ITALIAN SCHOOL • COSTA