Study Sheet with Two Figures

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Specifications

Title	Study Sheet with Two Figures
Material and technique	Metalpoint, heightened with white, on paper prepared with grey on both sides
Object type	Drawing > Two-dimensional object > Art object
Location	This object is in storage

Dimensions	Height 192 mm Width 194 mm
Artists	Artist: Anoniem Previously attributed: Davide Ghirlandaio
Accession number	I 193 (PK)
Credits	Loan Stichting Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen (former Koenigs collection), 1940
Department	Drawings & Prints
Acquisition date	1940
Creation date	in circa 1470-1490
Watermark	none (vH, 4P)
Inscriptions	'[...]' (verso, lower left, pen)
Collector	Collector / Franz Koenigs
Mark	Th. Hudson (L.2432), J. Reynolds (L.2364), F.W. Koenigs (L.1023a on removed backing sheet)
Provenance	Thomas Hudson (1701-1779, L.2432)**, London-Paris; Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792, L.2364), London; - ; Franz W. Koenigs (1881-1941, L.1023a), Haarlem, acquired in 1928; D.G. van Beuningen (1877-1955), Rotterdam, acquired with the Koenigs Collection in 1940 and donated to Stichting Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen
Research	Show research Italian Drawings 1400-1600
Literature	Berenson 1938, no. 835C; Ragghianti/Dalli Regoli 1975, pp. 55, 102, no. 83, pl. 112
Material	Paper > Vegetable material > Organic material > Material > Material and technique Paintbrush > Artist's material > Material > Material and technique Silverpoint > Metalpoint > Artist's material > Material > Material and technique Metalpoint > Artist's material > Material > Material and technique
Object	Drawing > Two-dimensional object > Art object
Technique	Prepare > Prepared > Shaping techniques > General technique > Technique > Material and technique Prepare > Prepared > Shaping techniques > General technique > Technique > Material and technique Highlight > Painting technique > Technique > Material and technique
Geographical origin	Italy > Southern Europe > Europe
Place of manufacture	Florence > Tuscany > Italy > Southern Europe > Europe

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Entry catalogue Italian Drawings 1400-1600

Author: Gert Jan van der Sman

Berenson (1938) published this sheet under the name of Davide Ghirlandaio (1452-1525), but Ragghianti and Dalli Regoli (1975) included the Rotterdam drawing in a group of forty sheets that they said were made in the workshop and sphere of influence of Sandro Botticelli (1445-1510). However, the figure study discussed here cannot be linked to any painting or work on paper by either of these artists. An attribution to Filippino Lippi (1457-1504) is equally inapplicable. Compared with I 10 and I 493, which both originated in Filippino’s workshop, the highlights in white bodycolour are not as thickly applied and the handling of the brush is more controlled.

It is possible that two anonymous figure studies in Florence are by the same hand.^[1] There is an almost identical simplification of the mouth and eyes in both drawings, and a similar handling of the folds of the cloaks. In some places the white highlights lie side by side in vertical parallel hatching. The artist who drew the Rotterdam sheet was able to effectively capture the poses of both the seated and the standing young man. Both figures have a tranquil facial expression, which gives the drawing a calm atmosphere.

Footnotes

^[1]Gallerie degli Uffizi, inv. 162 E and 165 E; Ragghianti/Dalli Regoli 1975, pp. 55, 94-95, nos. 53, 55, figs. 65-68. The drawings were originally parts of a single sheet.

Show research Italian Drawings 1400-1600

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