Design for a frieze with a putto and acanthus leaves

Details

Giulio Pippi, called Giulio Romano (Rome ca. 1492-1546 Mantua)
Design for a frieze with a putto and acanthus leaves
pen and brown ink, squared in red chalk
12 7/8 x 6 3/8 in. (32.6 x 16.2 cm)

Provenance

with Galerie de Bayser, Paris.

Literature

N. Strasser, Dessins italiens de la Renaissance au siècle des Lumières. Collection Jean Bonna, Geneva, 2010, no. 32, ill.
S. L'Occaso, Giulio Romano 'Universale'. Soluzioni decorative, fortuna delle invenzioni, Mantua, 2019, pp. 85, 87, ill.

Brought to you by

Furio Rinaldi

frinaldi@christies.com +1 212 636 2328

Lot Essay

A typical example of Giulio’s inventive decorative vocabulary, this design and a second one in Budapest (fig.) were likely made for a frieze or compartment to be executed in fresco or stucco at Palazzo Te, Mantua (1526-1536). As recently shown by L’Occaso (see Literature), the motif was precisely followed later by Bernardino Gatti, il Sojaro, for the background of his Saint Thomas, frescoed on the drum of the dome of S. Maria di Campagna, Piacenza, ca. 1542.

Fig. Giulio Romano, Design for a frieze with a putto and acanthus leaves, Szépművészeti Múzeum, Budapest.

More from Old Master & British Drawings Including Works from the Collection of Jean Bonna

View All