The Adoration of the Shepherds, in an architectural frame ornamented with caryatids, putti, festoons, birds, trophies etc thumbnail 1
Image of Gallery in South Kensington
Request to view at the Prints & Drawings Study Room, level H , Case PD, Shelf 289

The Adoration of the Shepherds, in an architectural frame ornamented with caryatids, putti, festoons, birds, trophies etc

Drawing
mid 16th century (drawn)
Artist/Maker
Unknown (artist)
Clovio, Giulio (formerly attributed to)
Place of origin
Italy (made)

The drawing was long identified as a drawing by Vasari as ‘a study for the picture painted for the Eremite Fathers in the valley of Camaldoli near Arezzo.’ Popham suggested the attribution to Giulio Clovio based on drawings in the Royal Collection which display similar frames. More recently, M. di Giampaolo has suggested an attribution to an artist close to Pirro Ligorio (1513-1583). The drawing is in fact much closer stilitically to the Bolognese school around 1550-70s and shows some Northern influence.


Object details

Object type
Drawing
TitleThe Adoration of the Shepherds, in an architectural frame ornamented with caryatids, putti, festoons, birds, trophies etc (published title)
Materials and techniques
Pen and ink and wash heightened with white on blue paper
Pen and Ink
Wash
White Pigment
Blue Paper
Drawing
Brief description
Drawing, The Adoration of the Shepherds, in an architectural frame ornamented with caryatids, putti, festoons, birds, trophies etc, artist unknown, Bolognese school, pen and ink and wash, mid 16th century
Dimensions
  • Height: 342mm
  • Width: 239mm
Styles
Bolognese School
Italian School
Production typeUnique
Object history
Provenance: W. Mayor (Lugt 2799)
Summary
The drawing was long identified as a drawing by Vasari as ‘a study for the picture painted for the Eremite Fathers in the valley of Camaldoli near Arezzo.’ Popham suggested the attribution to Giulio Clovio based on drawings in the Royal Collection which display similar frames. More recently, M. di Giampaolo has suggested an attribution to an artist close to Pirro Ligorio (1513-1583). The drawing is in fact much closer stilitically to the Bolognese school around 1550-70s and shows some Northern influence.
Bibliographic references
  • Ward-Jackson, Peter, Italian Drawings. Vol. I: 14th-16th century, London, 1979, cat. 125, p. 62, illus. The following is the full text of the entry: CLOVIO, GIULIO (1498-1578) 125 The Adoration of the Shepherds, in an architectural frame ornamented with caryatids, putti, festoons, birds, trophies etc Pen and ink and wash heightened with white on blue paper 13 1/2 x 9 3/8 (342 x 239) 8078 PROVENANCE W. Mayor (Lugt 2799) LITERATURE Mayor Catalogue, no. 84 Attributed to Vasari in the Mayor catalogue, and in the Museum till lately. The 1875 edition of the Mayor Catalogue (no. 115) states that the drawing is a 'study for the picture painted for the Eremite Fathers in the Valley of Camaldoli near Arezzo'. But the drawing is obviously not by Vasari. The attribution to Clovio was suggested by Popham. The elaborate frame is typical of a miniaturist's taste in ornament, and of Clovio's taste in particular. He used similar frames in two drawings at Windsor, the one representing an Adoration of the Kings, the other an Adoration of the Shepherds (Popham, Windsor, nos. 241 and 245). Similar frames flanked by caryatids may also often be seen in his miniatures; some are illustrated in Mirella Levi d'Ancona's article on him in Gazette des Beaux Arts, 6th series, 37, 1950, pp. 55-76. The forms and the pen work in our drawing are also characteristic of Clovio, revealing a love of small detail and a knowledge of Michelangelo's monumental nudes, which come out clearly in the two male figures crouching in the lower frieze. The turkey which stands prominently between them may be a pun on the name of a family, Tacchino, for example.
  • Mayor, William, A brief chronological description of a collection of original drawings and sketches by the most celebrated masters, London, 1871, no. 84.
  • Mario di Giampaolo and D. McTavish in Prospettiva, Jan. 1981, pp. 82-5, republished in Mario di Giampaolo, Scritti sul disegno italiano, 1971-2008, florence, 2010, pp. 386-9.
Collection
Prints, Drawings & Paintings Collection
Accession number
8078

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Record createdJune 30, 2009
Record URL
https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O819271/the-adoration-of-the-shepherds-drawing-unknown/
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