P 1 : JZP
0521551335 c 02 -p 4 CUNY 160 /Joannides 052155 133 1 January 11 , 2007 10 : 54
CATALOGUES 61–62 COPIES OF SURVIVING DRAWINGS 293
1. London, British Museum18 95- 9 - 15 - 492 /W 87 (but
see also discussion under W 42 ); black chalk, 410 × 263
mm. By far the best surviving version, until 1953 generally
believed to be the original.
2. Sotheby’s sale, London, 9 July 1981 , lot 11 as Alessan-
dro Allori; black chalk, 414 × 275 mm.
3. Christie’s sale, London, 26 November 1973 , lot 339 ;
black chalk, 388 × 255 mm.
4. Paris, Musee du Louvre, Inv. ́ 10978 /J 71 ;black
chalk, 235 × 183 mm, fragmentary. Made on tracing
paper that has in part disintegrated; only the head
survives.
These copies are all on the same scale, no doubt that
of the original.
History
Sir Thomas Lawrence (L. 2445 ); Samuel Woodburn.
References
Woodburn,184 2,no.15 4(By Raphael.). Robinson,187 0,
p. 308 ,no. 172 (Copy from Michel Angelo. After helmet
of Count of Canossa; “probably by an engraver of the
sixteenth century.”). Parker, 1956 ,no. 353 (Timid copy
of a detail from Michelangelo’s lost drawing.). De Tolnay,
1973 ,p. 39 (Timid copy after a lost drawing for the head-
dress of the Count of Canossa; the head and neck antic-
ipate Cat. 36 ; for the hind legs, see BM W 50 /Corpus
305 .). De Tolnay, 1976 , Corpus II, no. 303 bis (As
1973 .).
CATALOGUE 62
battista franco(c.151 0– 1561 )
An Ideal Head
184 6. 94 ;R. 53 ( 2 ); P.II34 8
Dimensions: 148 × 163 mm, irregular, most of the top
edge and the lower right corner made up.
Medium
Black chalk.
Condition
The sheet is tissue lined. There are major toned infills,
a diagonal pressed-out crease, and repaired tears, with
some skinning at repairs. The sheet has abrasions, fibrous
accretions, general uneven discolouration and local
foxing.