16th Century Nude Drawings and Watercolors

This drawing is very close to the other silverware designs created by Giulio Romano for the Gonzaga court in Mantua, where he settled from 1524 onwards. An exhibition organized a yea...

This subtle drawing from the Roman Renaissance presents Apollo accompanied by three Muses. It is based on a sarcophagus depicting the nine Muses framed by Minerva and Apollo, which is now in the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. Girolamo de Carpi repeatedly drew figures from this sarcophagus during his stay in Rome between 1549 and 1553. Despite this common source of inspiration, the more delicate execution of our drawing and the similarities with a painting by the artist depicting Apollo or Poetry made around 1532-1534 (9th photo in the Gallery) suggest the same period of production for our drawing. 1. Girolamo de Carpi, a life between Ferrara and Rome at the service of the Este family Our knowledge of Girolamo de Carpi's life is largely based upon the second edition of the Lives of the Artists published in 1568 by Giorgio Vasari (1511 - 1574), became a close friend of his around 1550. Girolamo de Carpi was born in 1501 in Ferrara where his father was also a painter. After an apprenticeship shared between his father's workshop and that of Garofalo, Girolamo began his career in Bologna, where he settled in 1525, working on the frescoes in the sacristy of San Michele in Bosco alongside Biagio Pupini. He was then influenced by Parmigianino, whom he had met in Bologna or during a brief stay in Rome before moving to Bologna. From 1530 onwards, Girolamo de Carpi settled in Ferrara, probably making a further stay in Rome in 1531. He also began to work for the d'Este family, first in Belriguardo, where he took part in the decoration of the Sala della Vigna, then in the Palazetto della Montagna di San Giorgio (of which he may have been the architect), which he also decorated with frescoes, and finally in Copparo. A true Renaissance court artist, Girolamo also executed easel paintings, ephemeral decorations and tapestry cartoons for his clients. Cardinal Hippolyte d'Este, who, since the early 1540s, had been one of his main clients within this powerful family, called him to Rome to design the layout of his Quirinal garden. Girolamo remained in Rome for four years, also working as an architect at the Belvedere for Pope Julius III, before returning to Ferrara in 1553. His last work as an architect was the reconstruction of the ducal palace in Ferrara, which was partly destroyed by fire in 1554. 2. Description of the artwork and some related artworks This double-sided drawing depicts four figures inspired by antique statuary: Apollo accompanied by a griffin with the Muse Calliope on his right, and the Muses Melpomene and Polymnia on the reverse. The drawing of each figure, made of fine hatchings, is particularly delicate and evokes the refined art of Parmigianino, who inspired Girolamo de Carpi in his early days. The figure of Apollo...

Provenance: Private Collection, New York. This study of a nude male’s torso and legs is a direct study after the Farnese Hercules (Fig. 1), an ancien...

Provenance: William Randolph Hearst, California; and by descent to his great-nephew; From whom acquired, ca. 1990 by: Private Collection, New York (1990-2022) Michelangelo’s The Archers...