Sotheby’s, Master Works on Paper from Five Centuries, London, 6-Jul-22
Boltraffio, 1467-1516 (attributed)
Saint John the Evangelist; St. James the Less
64x47cm, Mid-estimate: 100,000£ each
Most interesting drawings this season: precious witnesses of the great artistic tragedy that is Leonardo’s Last Supper.
Commissioned by Ludovico Sforza, Last Supper is the centerpiece of Leonardo’s 18 years in Milan. He worked on the fresco for several years and the monks would often complain at the slow progress. One story goes that Leonardo responded that ‘he had been struggling to find the perfect villainous face for Judas, and that if he could not find a face corresponding with what he had in mind, he would use the features of the prior who had complained’. Common and reliable fresco technique would not allow such prolonged creative process and Leonardo opted for a risky one. Add hasty construction and the fact that its an exterior wall – the humidity caused the fresco to deteriorate almost as soon as completed. By 1556, fewer than sixty years after it was finished, Giorgio Vasari described the painting as reduced to a "muddle of blots" so deteriorated that the figures were unrecognizable.
Perhaps, in order to preserve the masterpiece, several of his closest Milanese students executed life size copies: Giampetrino (London), Marco d’Oggiono (Chateau d'Ecouen) and Solario (Belgium). Those two drawings are part of eleven-piece series of apostle heads scattered among various collections and their size to the actual figures of the fresco. Intriguing as anything related to Leonardo’s name, they once belonged to King of Holland and British painter Thomas Lawrence, and even thought to be fragments cut from the master's original cartoon.
#art#arte#oldmasters#oldmasterpaintings#oldmasterdrawings#boltraffio#leonardodavinci#marcodoggiono#giampetrino#andreasolario#sothebysmasters#londonartweek#lastsupper#artblog#artmarket#historyofart#renaissance#renaissanceart#highrenaissance
This woman’s exquisite attire indicates her likely wealth and importance. Gold disks decorate the edge of her collar while rubies and emeralds adorn her hair. She wears an extravagant necklace with a large cut diamond and luxurious pearl. The fashion suggests the portrait was made in the 1570s by Alessandro Allori (1535—1607), who was one of the most prolific and active painters in late 16h century Florence. On his father's death in 1540, the young Alessandro Allori was adopted by Bronzino (1503—1572), becoming his pupil and a significant disseminator of his elegant Mannerist vocabulary.
It is possibly a representation of Camilla Martelli, mistress and later second wife of the Grand Duke of Tuscany, Cosimo I de'Medici. Unlike other portraits depicting individuals who themselves may have collected art or created a studioli, or private studies, Camilla herself would not have had access to such a study room. However, the Medici family had one of the most celebrated studioli in all of Italy.
Alessandro Allori, Portrait of a Lady, probably Camilla Martelli de’Medici, 1570s, Saint Louis Art Museum, US @stlartmuseum#portraitpainting#femaleportrait#alessandroallori#paintingdetail#allori#femaleportraits#baroqueart#historyofart#arthistory#artoftheday#oldmasters#oldmasterpaintings#16thcentury#15thcentury#neoclassical#classicalpainting#classicart#classicpainting#artdaily#artmuseum#artdetail#artlover#italianart#renaissanceart#renaissance#arthistorydiary
Source: Wikimedia Commons & slam.org
Leonardo da Vinci, Ginevra de' Benci, 1474/78, oil on panel, 43 x 37 cm, National Gallery of Art, Washington.
Italian Leonardo da Vinci, 1452-1519, has been praised by many as the greatest artist in Western art. He left an incredible impact on audiences, artists and scholars from the Italian Renaissance until present day. There are only about 17 paintings by the master that have survived and are undisputed by art scholars. Several of them are unfinished. This portrait of the 16 year old Ginevra de' Benci’s is the only painting by Leonardo that is in an American museum or collection. He painted it in his early twenties. The execution in oil paint, the three-quarter pose and the presence of the detailed landscape in the background shows that he clearly was influenced by early Netherlandish portraiture. There is some dispute among scholars who commissioned the work. While some believe Ginevra’s portrait was made to celebrate her betrothal to Luigi di Bernardo Niccolini, others believe Bernardo Bembo, the Venetian ambassador to Florence, had it made as a sign of their friendship. Leonardo paints Ginevra with a rather cold expression and pale complexion. And while we recognize the curly hair as typical Leonardo, the soft transitions in color are not fully developed in this early work. The lower part of the work, which might have shown her hands, was cut down at one point. On the reverse side Leonardo painted several symbolic elements that refer to or symbolize Ginevra. While the palm and laurel refer to her virtue and intellect, the juniper hints at her name. The Latin inscription on a scroll stating Virtutem Forma Decorat, which translates as Beauty Adorns Virtue, unites all the elements.
#leonardodavinci#davinci#renaissance#historyofart#portrait#arthistory#juniper#historiadelarte#vasari#vinci#storiadellarte#sfumato#italianart#italianartist#firenze#italianpainter#oilpainting#oilonpanel#virtue#medici#nationalgallery#nationalgalleryofart#washington#florence#masterpiece#uffizi#oldmaster#renaissanceart#palm#laurel