CORNELIS SAFTLEVEN
125 A Lion Snarling
Black and red chalk and black and brown wash; H: 39.6
cm (i5^9 /i6 in.); W: 32.9 cm (i2I5/i6 in.)
84.00.808
MARKS AND INSCRIPTIONS: At bottom left, inscribed
CSL in brush and brown ink by a later hand.
PROVENANCE: Private collection, Nancy; J. D. Au-
garde, Paris (sale, Hotel Drouot, Paris, December 20,
1982 , lot 23); sale, Christie's, Amsterdam, November 26,
1984,10137.
EXHIBITIONS: None.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: None.THIS IS ONE OF A LARGE GROUP OF STUDIES OF
animals by Cornelis Saftleven, executed in a variety of
media including chalk, wash, and watercolor. Although
animals frequently appear in his paintings, there is no rea-
son to believe that this is a preparatory study. It is among
the largest and most elaborate of the artist's animal draw-
ings and is closest in scale and technique to another ren-
dering of a lion in the Stichting Hannema-de-Stuers,
Heino.^1 In each case the lion is shown up close and cut off
at the chest. The two drawings also share a softness of
modeling in the fur and an overelaborate use of water-
color in the face. It is not unlikely that they date from the
same moment and were meant to be seen together.
Schulz has dated the lion in Heino to circa 1625-1633,
which would also provide the date of its companion.^21. W. Schulz, Cornelis Saftleven, 1607-1681 (Berlin, 1978), no.
303 -- Ibid., p. 56. In the Christies, Amsterdam, sale catalogue
(1984, lot 37), Schulz's acceptance of the attribution of this
drawing to Saftleven is noted.
274 DUTCH SCHOOL • SAFTLEVEN