Old Masters for new collectors
Ahead of the online auction Old Master Works on Paper: Prints and Drawings for under £5,000, two specialists from Christie’s highlight five intriguing and affordable works from the sale
Francisco de Goya’s Modo de VolarEstimate £2,000-3,000
Francisco de Goya y Lucientes (1746-1828), Modo de Volar, from: Los Proverbios, circa 1815-24, etching with aquatint and drypoint. Estimate £2,000-3,000. Offered in Old Master Works on Paper: Prints and Drawings for under £5,000, 28 November-6 December 2018
Goya didn’t engrave titles on the etching plates for this series, unlike his Los Caprichos and La Tauromaquia series, so the image’s meaning remains unknown. It has been suggested, however, that this fantastical picture of a man in flight may refer to Leonardo da Vinci’s late-15th-century designs for a flying machine, remarks Baskerville. ‘Perhaps this subject matter suggests a futility in pursuing such an endeavour, or conversely, that anything is possible with enough perseverance and determination.’
Guercino’s Study of a PuttoEstimate £4,000-6,000
Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, called Il Guercino (1591-1666), Study of a putto holding a palm branch, circa 1645, pen and brown ink. Estimate £4,000-6,000. Offered in Old Master Works on Paper: Prints and Drawings for under £5,000, 28 November-6 December 2018
Den Otter goes on to explain that the mount on which the drawing is preserved was added by the celebrated collector Francesco Maria Niccolò Gabburri (1676-1742), who wrote the work’s inventory number as well as the attribution to Guercino on its reverse.
Giuseppe Scolari’s Saint George and the DragonEstimate £4,000-6,000
Giuseppe Scolari (active 1550-1600), Saint George and the Dragon, circa 1600, woodcut. Estimate: £4,000-6,000. Offered in Old Master Works on Paper: Prints and Drawings for under £5,000, 28 November-6 December 2018
The lines amplify the rearing movement of Saint George’s horse as its hooves are about to crash down onto the dragon below. ‘The look of terror on Saint George’s face adds a nervous energy to the scene,’ Baskerville says, ‘which captures the moment his lance has broken in two after spearing the mouth of the dragon.’
Scolari is something of a mystery and is only known to us today through this small oeuvre of nine firmly attributed woodcuts. ‘Sadly, none of his paintings or drawings have survived,’ says the specialist.
Giulio Aluisetti’s Design for the high altar in the church of San Simpliciano, MilanEstimate £2,000-3,000
Giulio Aluisetti (1796-1851), Design for the high altar in the church of San Simpliciano, Milan, 1827, graphite, pen and black ink and red and grey wash. Estimate: £2,000-3,000. Offered in Old Master Works on Paper: Prints and Drawings for under £5,000, 28 November-6 December 2018
The sheet also has a number of inscriptions, which detail the church’s approval for the design. ‘A few small, final changes were made when the altar was actually built,’ continues the specialist. ‘The angels flanking the altar were replaced by two figures in prayer and the central cross was switched for a sculpture, but otherwise the eventual structure is pretty close to that set out by Aluisetti on this sheet.’
Detail showing Aluisetti's inserted alternative design for the church's tabernacle
Enea Vico’s The Academy of Baccio BandinelliEstimate £2,000-3,000
Enea Vico (1523-1567) after Baccio Bandinelli (1493-1563), The Academy of Baccio Bandinelli, 1546, engraving. Estimate £2,000-3,000. Offered in Old Master Works on Paper: Prints and Drawings for under £5,000, 28 November-6 December 2018
‘In reality the workshop wouldn’t have looked like this, but by presenting it as a place of gentlemanly study and referring to it as an ‘academy' Bandinelli is evoking Plato’s Academy of Ancient Greece, and elevating his own status,' Baskerville remarks. ‘Intrinsically, the medium of printmaking allowed for the easy distribution of his visual claim.’