Design for a crucifix
Drawing
late 16th century (made)
late 16th century (made)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
Alberti was a painter, designer and engraver, who worked in Borgo, and then went to Rome, where he made prints after Michelangelo and Salviati, as well as painting frescos. The rough sketches are on the back of a highly-finished design for a crucifix, a sheet which has been pasted together from three separate pieces of paper. They show the free play of the artist's imagination, including an intriguing decorative detail being derived from a cluster of fruit-like forms. Several ideas for architectural details are mixed up with a portrait head and sketches which might be for paintings or mural decoration.
Object details
| Category | |
| Object type | |
| Title | Design for a crucifix (generic title) |
| Materials and techniques | Pen and ink and red wash |
| Brief description | Drawing, Recto: Design for a crucifix; Verso: Rough sketches of ornament and architecture, including part of a campanile, a male term, and a putto in a frieze; also a sketch of a girl holding a baby, and a girl's head; attributed to Cherubino Alberti (known as Il Borgheggiano), Florentine school, late 16th century |
| Physical description | Drawing showing a design for a crucifix, with two strips of paper each showing an angel pasted on below the arms of the Cross. On the back, rough sketches of ornament and architecture; also a sketch of a girl holding a baby, and a girl's head. |
| Gallery label | Cherubino Alberti (1553-1615),
known as il Borgheggiano
Rough sketches of ornament and
architecture.
Pen and ink and red wash
Alberti was a painter, designer and engraver,
who worked in Borgo, and then went to Rome, where he made prints after
Michelangelo and Salviati, as well as painting
frescos. These rough sketches are on
the back of a highly-finished design for a
crucifix, a sheet which has been pasted
together from three separate pieces of
paper. They show the free play of the artist's
imagination, including an intriguing
decorative detail being derived from a
cluster of fruit-like forms. Several ideas for
architectural details are mixed up with a
portrait head and sketches which might be
for paintings or mural decoration.
E.4448-1920 |
| Subject depicted | |
| Summary | Alberti was a painter, designer and engraver, who worked in Borgo, and then went to Rome, where he made prints after Michelangelo and Salviati, as well as painting frescos. The rough sketches are on the back of a highly-finished design for a crucifix, a sheet which has been pasted together from three separate pieces of paper. They show the free play of the artist's imagination, including an intriguing decorative detail being derived from a cluster of fruit-like forms. Several ideas for architectural details are mixed up with a portrait head and sketches which might be for paintings or mural decoration. |
| Bibliographic reference | Ward-Jackson, Peter, Italian Drawings. Volume I. 14th-16th century, London, 1979, p. 28
The following is the full text of the entry:
ALBERTI, CHERUBINO known as il Borgheggiano (1553-1615)
23
Recto Design for a crucifix, with two strips of paper each showing an angel pasted on below the arms of the Cross
The two vertical panels inscribed 'Alto piedi no. 5 .. .'
The right hand panel inscribed across the bottom with a scale
Pen and ink and wash
Size of sheet 18 x 10 1/8 (457 x 257)
E•4448-I920
Verso Rough sketches of ornament and
architecture, including part of a campanile,
a male term, and a putto in a frieze; also a sketch of a girl holding a baby, and a girl's head
Inscribed with various numerals and three times 'AI Molto Mag' or similar words Pen and ink; the study of a girl's head and one of the sketches of ornament touched with red wash
PROVENANCE A. Grahl (Lugt 1199); Dr B. Geiger (sale, Sotheby, 7 December 1920, lot no. 2, as by Cherubino Alberti, bought by the Museum)
The medallions at the four ends of the cross contain heads of God the Father and the three Marys. The attribution (first recorded in the Geiger sale catalogue, 1920) is not certain, but the sketches on the verso are reminiscent of those in a sketch-book of Alberti's in the Uffizi (inv. no. 93679 F). This book (p. 13, Gernsheim photo.
no. 19752) contains a hatched study of a head similar to the girl's head in our drawing; it also contains several smaller and rougher sketches of figures similar to the girl holding a baby in our drawing (see especially p. 15 in the sketch-book, Gernsheim photo. no. 19755). The panels on each side of the crucifix in our drawing were probably added by a different hand. |
| Collection | |
| Accession number | E.4448-1920 |
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| Record created | June 30, 2009 |
| Record URL |
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