32 Design for an Altar
Pen and brown ink and brown wash, incised for transfer;
H: 45.4 cm (i7^7 /sin.); W: 37. 7 cm (i4^7 /sin.)
88.GG.i3 0
MARKS AND INSCRIPTIONS: At bottom left corner, col-
lection mark of William, second duke of Devonshire
(L. 718); at center, bottom, and right, various measure-
ments; at bottom right corner, collection mark of Nich-
olas A. Flinck (L. 959); along right margin, inscribed
Quando q /pare st a I po streng I column] I emjejchlj I tanto
ch I vero e / ne dj / for I lejndi I la cornjce I vada dr I schizo s
in brown ink by the artist.
PROVENANCE: Nicholas A. Flinck, Rotterdam; William,
second duke of Devonshire, Chatsworth; by descent to
the current duke (sale, Christie's, London, July 6, 1987,
lot 8); art market, New York.
EXHIBITIONS: Old Master Drawings from Chatsworth,
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., and other
institutions, 1962-63, no. 48 (catalogue by A. E.
Popham); Old Master Drawings from Chatsworth, Royal
Academy of Arts, London, July-August 1969, no. 48
(catalogue by A. E. Popham); Old Master Drawings from
Chatsworth, National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo,
1975 , no. 17; Old Master Drawings from Chatsworth, Israel
Museum, Jerusalem, April-July 1977, no. 16.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: G. F. Waagen, Treasures of Art in Great
Britain (London, 1854), v°l- 3> P- 354; W. W. Kent, The
Life and Works ofBaldassare Peruzzi of Siena (New York,
1925), p. 76; C. L. Frommel, Baldassare Peruzzi als Maler
undZeichner (Munich, 1968), p. 144, no. iosf; H. Wurrn,
Baldassare Peruzzi Architekturzeichnungen (Tubingen,
1984), vol. i, p. 158.THIS DRAWING HAS BEEN RECOGNIZED AS THE WORK
of Peruzzi since it was first published by Waagen (1854),
who noted that it is a design for an altar. No existing proj-
ect can be related to it with any degree of certainty, but
Frommel (1968) reasonably proposed that the sheet rep-
resents an unexecuted project for a side altar for the ca-
thedral of Siena. He also noted the considerable size of
the altar—approximately 6.4 by 7.3 meters—and the use
of the Corinthian order in a manner resembling the tomb
of Pope Hadrian VI in Santa Maria dellAnima, Rome,
and a design for an organ case for the Gonzaga (Windsor,
Royal Library inv. 5495; Popham 1962-63). The three
share the use of a double row of niche figures, and the
decorative relief work on the architrave in the two draw-
ings is also analogous. It is pointed out in the sale cata-
logue (Christie's 1987) that three of the saints in niches
are shown facing to the right, indicating that the altar was
to stand in the left aisle. It should also be noted that Pe-
ruzzi tried a variant scheme for the base of the altar frame
on either side of the design. This would suggest that the
sheet was intended to be shown to the patron, with
whom a decision would have been reached. Peruzzi also
showed the effect of shadows on the top and right parts
of the altar frame. All of this indicates that the sheet was
a presentation drawing as well as one in which the artist
worked out solutions for his own use. The date of circa
1527 proposed by Frommel appears likely.88 ITALIAN SCHOOL • PERUZZI