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0521551331 apx 1 CUNY 160 /Joannides 052155 133 1 January 11 , 2007 13 : 45
406 APPENDIX 1. DRAWINGS IN WILLIAM YOUNG OTTLEY’S SALES- 1830 - 21 ii, as by Giulio Clovio/184 2- 24 /184 6-
33 /R. 73 /P.II 352 (in all these the provenance is given solely
as Wicar and Lawrence, with Ottley omitted)/Cat. 67.
It is virtually certain that Ottley was mistaken in believing
that the drawing that he owned was Michelangelo’s original
and mistaken also in thinking that it came from the King
of Naples (unless the king also owned a duplicate). Further-
more, the price realised by the present drawing is very low
for an original. The trueChrist on the Crosswaspriced in the
1836 exhibition ( 1836 - 22 )at£36 7, 10 shillings; in addition,
the 1836 catalogue does not include Ottley in the provenance
of theChrist on the Cross, whereas his name is included in
that of theReturn from the Flight into Egypt[ 1836 - 71 /Cat. 21 ],
which also came from the King of Naples. It is not certain
that Ottley possessed Cat. 67 (rather than one of the other
known copies), but it seems probable.
The history of Michelangelo’s originalChrist on the
Cross, made for Vittoria Colonna and now in the British
Museum seems to be: The King of Naples/Julien de Parme,
his sale 21 and 22 February 1794 , lot 21 /Louis-Charles
Brunet ( 1746 – 1825 ), the brother-in-law of Dominique-
Vivant Denon, by whom he was presumably advised on
his purchases/Woodburn/ 1830 - 21 i/ 1836 - 22 , 1838 - 8 / 1850 -
105 /186 0- 114 /Bought Enson/ Brooks/Malcolm 67 /BM
W 67.
1592.Unidentified.
Fifteenth Day (p. 145)
1677 .Acquired by William Roscoe. In his sale September
1816 ,lot 78 :“ADream of Michelangelo, expressive of his
resentment against the persons employed under him in build-
ing the Church of St. Peter’s. A figure (markedGio. Scultore)
representing his own Portrait, is seen issuing, in great wrath
from an Arcade; and five naked Figures, pursued by Ser-
pents, are making their escape by different ways. At the
bottom is written, in his own hand,‘Sognio fatto adi 16 di
Aprile 1560, la notte della domenica seconda dopo pasqua’.Spir-
ited pen,very curious. 7h. 9 .w. From Mr Ottley’s collec-
tion.” Bought Watson – i.e., the London bookseller William
Carey–£ 2. 4. 0. This drawing may in fact have been bought
in with Carey acting on Roscoe’s behalf since it is the subject
of a letter from Roscoe to Sir Thomas Lawrence of 1824 ,in
which he insists, against Lawrence’s better judgement, that it
is by Michelangelo. It must, nevertheless, have been acquired
byLawrence since it appears in Woodburn’s posthumous sale
of drawings from the Lawrence collection,186 0, lot 978 /Sir
Thomas Phillipps/Phillipps-Fenwick/BM GP 95 ,asby
Giovanni Antonio Dosio. It is notable that the transcrip-
tion of the inscription given in 1814 - 1677 and 1816 - 78 is
incorrect: the date reads15 6 4.1678.Acquired by William Roscoe; his sale September
1816 , lot. 79 :“ADesign from the Collection of Mr.
Ottley... (entry quoted).v. Mr. Ottley’s Catalogue No. 1678.
9 h. 6 w. ; Notwithstanding the authority of so distinguished
a judge of works of art, it is presumed that this Drawing is
not by Michelangolo, but is the design for the principal front
of the Catafalco, erected in the Church of San Lorenzo in
Florence on the occasion of his funeral, which was attended
bythe Grand Duke of Tuscany, and of which a very partic-
ular account is given by Vasari in his Life of Michelangolo;
from which it appears, that all the principal artists of Florence
united in honouring his memory, by erecting this immense,
though temporary, structure; and in particular that the fig-
ure of the Tiber was executed in imitation of a Statue of
Marble byGiovanni Castello, and that of the Arno byBattista
di Benedetto; that the representation of Lorenzo de’ Medici
introducing Michelangelo when young into the Garden of
the Medici, was painted in Chiaro Scuro byMirabelloand
Girolamo del Crocifissajo; and that the figure of fame at the
top was executed larger than life, byZanobi Lastricati, the
sculptor, who had the direction of the whole, and who, it is
not improbable, was the designer of the present sketch. It fur-
ther appears from Vasari, that the Catafalco was only suffered
to remain a few weeks after the funeral, for the inspection
of the public; so that this drawing is now probably the only
remaining representation of a work intended to confer the
highest honours on Michelangelo, and which employed the
talents of the first artists of the time.” Bought Ford, £ 2. 3. 0.
In 2002 in the S. Stock Collection, London, attributed to
Vincenzo Borghini: see A. Bostrom, ̈ 2002 – 3 ,no. 134.
1679 i,ii,iii.Acquired by William Roscoe. In his sale
September 1816 , lot 71 : “One, a Design for thesybilla
libicain the Capella Sistina; a most elegant figure; fine Pen
Sketch. Size 10 h. 61 / 2 w.reverse,ahead in red chalk.
From the Bonarotti Collection; since Mr. Ottley’s.” Bought
byHall £ 1. 3. 0 .Itmust be assumed that Roscoe re-mounted
this, presumably the most significant of the three drawings in
Ottley’s lot 1679 , and that the “two pen sketches” were either
not offered in his sale, or were included in another lot. The
single drawing of the trio described in sufficient detail to be
recognisable is, no doubt, the double-sided sheet by Battista
Franco in the British Museum, GP 135 , 243 × 163 mm, with
a pen drawing ofVenus and Cupidon the recto and a female
head in red chalk on the verso. Its true authorship must have
been realised after 1816 ,probably while it was in Lawrence’s
collection, and it was correctly attributed to Franco when
it appeared as part of186 0- 403. Acquired by Sir Thomas
Phillipps for 13 s, it entered the British Museum with the
Phillipps-Fenwick Collection.
1680.Acquired by William Roscoe; his sale of September
1816 ,aslot 60 , “One, a study of Horses &c. free pen. A
Sketch on the back for the Statue of Christ in the Minerva.