Reclining sibyl holding a book, with a winged putto supporting an inscribed tablet thumbnail 1
Reclining sibyl holding a book, with a winged putto supporting an inscribed tablet thumbnail 2
Image of Gallery in South Kensington
Request to view at the Prints & Drawings Study Room, level H , Case PD, Shelf 272

Reclining sibyl holding a book, with a winged putto supporting an inscribed tablet

Drawing
16th century (made)
Artist/Maker
Gatti, Bernardino (made)
Place of origin
parma (made)

Drawing, Design for a fresco, Reclining sibyl holding a book, with a winged putto supporting an inscribed tablet; framed in an oval cartouche


Object details

Categories
Drawings
Designs
Object type
Drawing
TitleReclining sibyl holding a book, with a winged putto supporting an inscribed tablet (published title)
Materials and techniques
Drawing assembled from several separate pieces of paper; Black chalk, pen and ink, heightened with white on grey laid paper; squared in black chalk
Black Chalk
Pen and Ink
White Pigment
Grey Paper
Drawing
Brief description
Drawing, Reclining sibyl holding a book, with a winged putto supporting an inscribed tablet, by Bernardino Gatti, known as il Sojaro, Parmesan School, black chalk, pen and ink, 16th century
Physical description
Drawing, Design for a fresco, Reclining sibyl holding a book, with a winged putto supporting an inscribed tablet; framed in an oval cartouche
Dimensions
  • Height: 190mm
  • Width: 333mm
Dimensions taken from Lambert, Susan. Drawing: Technique & Purpose. London: Victoria & Albert Museum, 1981.
Styles
Italian School
Renaissance
Parmesan School
Production typeUnique
Marks and inscriptions
Inscribed in red chalk 'Cesare da Sesto'
Object history
1 of 68 architectural drawings part purchased from, part presented by Francis Wollaston Moody in 1872.
Subject depicted
Sibyl
Bibliographic references
  • Lambert, Susan. Drawing: Technique & Purpose. London: Victoria & Albert Museum, 1981. p.20. The full text of the entry is as follows: ‘I. Technique […] DRAWING AIDS AND GADGETS Corrections […] 42. Bernardino Gatti (il Sojaro) (1495/1500-1576); Italian Reclining sibyl holding a book A study for a fresco Inscribed in an old hand Cesare da Sesto Black chalk, pen and ink, heightened with white on grey laid paper; squared in black chalk. 19 x 33.3 cm VAM 604 (Given by F. W. Moody) The drawing is made up of several bits of paper carefully pieced together and is cor- rected with details, such as the right hand of the putto, stuck on. (PWJ I 147)’
  • Referenced in Cristina Loi, 'Disegni per Milano al Victoria & Albert Museum di Londra' in Il Disegno di Architettura: notizie su studi, richerche, archivi e collezioni pubbliche e private, Aprile 1996, Numero 13, pp. 31-38.
  • Ward-Jackson, Peter, Italian Drawings, Volume I. 14th-16th century, London, 1979, cat. 147, p. 72, illus. The full text of the entry here as follows: GATTI, BERNARDINO known as il Sojaro (1495/1500-1576) 147 Reclining sibyl holding a book, with a winged putto supporting an inscribed tablet; framed in a an oval cartouche. Inscribed in red chalk 'Cesare da Sesto' Black chalk and pen and ink, heightened with white, on grey paper; squared in black chalk 7 1/2 x 13 1/8 (190 x 333) PROVENANCE Given by F.W. Moody 1872 The drawing has several corrections pasted on to it. It has hitherto been ascribed to Cesare da Sesto, in accordance with the inscription. But, as Pouncey has pointed out, it is a characteristic working drawing by Gatti. The type is described by A.E. Popham in Correggio's Darwings, 1957, p. 120. This group of drawings, Popham states, 'are mainly careful studies on a fairly large scale for individual figures...in his large frescoes undertakings... They are nearly all on coloured paper, heightened with white, and nearly all are squared. Many of them are made up of different bits of paper, carefully pievced together, the hands being frequently separately and stuck on'. The right hand of the putto in this drawing is among the corrections pasted onto the sheet. In the style the drawings resembles Gatti's study for an apostle in the dome of S. Maria della Steccata, Parma. This study, which is in the British Museum (1946-7-13-29), is reproduced by Popham, loc. cit., p. 120, fig. 57, and in Popham, Parmese drawings in the BM, pl. 27 (catalogue no. 34).
Collection
Prints, Drawings & Paintings Collection
Accession number
604

About this object record

Explore the Collections contains over a million catalogue records, and over half a million images. It is a working database that includes information compiled over the life of the museum. Some of our records may contain offensive and discriminatory language, or reflect outdated ideas, practice and analysis. We are committed to addressing these issues, and to review and update our records accordingly.

You can write to us to suggest improvements to the record.

Suggest feedback

Record createdJune 30, 2009
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1028535/reclining-sibyl-holding-a-book-drawing-gatti-bernardino/
Download as: JSONIIIF Manifest