Design for an altar with an arch framing a ciborium

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Artist/Maker	Ferrucci, Francesco Di Simone (attributed to)
Place of origin	Italy (drawn)

This drawing belonged to Giorgio Vasari who attributed it to Desiderio da Settignano although the name of Desiderio da Settignano was probably not inscribed by Vasari himself (the ornamental frame was designed by Vasari). Peter Ward-Jackson attributed this drawing and six related drawings (including museum no. 4904 and 1416-1884) to Francesco di Simone, a sculptor influenced by Desiderio da Settignano. This was based on their similarity to the drawings from the so-called 'Verrocchio Sketchbook'; which in turn had been attributed to Francesco di Simone on the strength of a comparison with a drawing in the National Museum, Stockholm, which appears to be an original design for the tomb of Alessandro Tartagni in S. Domenico at Bologna.

Object details

Categories	Designs Drawings Christianity
Object type	Design
Title	Design for an altar with an arch framing a ciborium (published title)
Materials and techniques	Black chalk, pen and ink and wash, heightened with white, on paper partly tinted pink Drawing
Brief description	Drawing, Design for an altar with an arch framing a ciborium; mounted in a border decorated with trophies etc as on Vasari's mounts, attributed to Francesco de Simone, Italian School, black chalk, pen and ink and wash, 15th century
Physical description	Drawing of an altar framing a ciborium and sculpted figures. The drawing has been cropped and part of the image lost. Three historic supports have been added. The earliest (foremost) support is a decorated border, parts of which are attempts to restore the lost areas of the orginal drawing. The drawing and the decorated border were then cropped again, following the curved line of the arch in the drawing. At a later date this has been pasted onto another rectangluar support, and the outline of the decorated border restored. The most recent (rearmost) support carries a gold-leaf border of the late eighteenth or nineteenth century.
Dimensions	Height: 153mm Width: 228mm
Style	Italian School
Production type	Unique
Marks and inscriptions	Inscribed within a cartouche in the middle of the lower border 'DESIDERIO DA SETTIGNANO SCULT.'
Object history	Giorgio Vasari (as indicated by the ornamental border); Dr H. Wellesley (Sotheby, 3 July 1866, lot 1438, brought by J. C. Robinson for the Museum)
Historical context	The attribution of this drawing, and six drawings related to it (including museum nos. 4904 and 1416-1884), has been the subject of some debate, but the current attribution, to Francesco di Simone Ferrucci, retains much credibility. Vasari's attribution of this particular drawing to Desiderio da Settignano must have been based on the similarity between the design and Desiderio da Settignano's work at S.Lorenzo, Florence. Peter Ward-Jackson attributed the entire group to Francesco di Simone Ferrucci, a sculptor influenced by Desiderio da Settignano. This was based on their similarity to the drawings from the so-called 'Verrocchio Sketchbook'; which in turn had been attributed to Francesco di Simone Ferrucci on the strength of a comparison with a drawing in the National Museum at Stockholm which is firmly attributed to him. This attribution was supported by F. Cagliotti in1994. In the 1960s Dr Dalli Regoli argued that the sketchbook, and therefore this altar drawing, was by Lorenzo di Credi, a pupil of Verrocchio and inheritor of his workshop. More recently she has accepted that Francesco di Simone Ferrucci worked with Lorenzo di Credi and Verrocchio. What seems to be undisputed is that the drawing is Florentine in origin. During the medieval period, the Eucharist was stored out of sight. But in the fifteenth century changes in Christian practice meant that it had to be kept on or near the altar for all to see. A new receptacle was required, of a suitably worthy scale and design to house something so sacred. In Italy the new receptacle took the form of a wall-mounted 'tabernacle', or a freestanding 'tempietto.' For the sculptor this presented a new design challenge, as he tried to incorporate a new and important element into the well-established altar format: if the tabernacle was placed above the centre of the altar, for example, there would be no room for a central devotional image. This is one of a group of drawings made by one sculptor as he tried to resolve such a problem. In it we see the tabernacle forming the centre of the altar, so that only the side niches remain for statues of saints. Like other sculpture designs from the period, this drawing is most probably by the sculptor himself. The layout, with one half highly finished and the other half largely blank, is typical of Renaissance design drawings. Such drawings were considered works of art in their own right and were sought after by early collectors.
Subjects depicted	Angels Ciboria (Structures) Altars Instruments Tabernacle John (Saint John the Baptist)
Association	Credi, Lorenzo Di
Summary	This drawing belonged to Giorgio Vasari who attributed it to Desiderio da Settignano although the name of Desiderio da Settignano was probably not inscribed by Vasari himself (the ornamental frame was designed by Vasari). Peter Ward-Jackson attributed this drawing and six related drawings (including museum no. 4904 and 1416-1884) to Francesco di Simone, a sculptor influenced by Desiderio da Settignano. This was based on their similarity to the drawings from the so-called 'Verrocchio Sketchbook'; which in turn had been attributed to Francesco di Simone on the strength of a comparison with a drawing in the National Museum, Stockholm, which appears to be an original design for the tomb of Alessandro Tartagni in S. Domenico at Bologna.
Bibliographic references	Ward-Jackson, Peter, Italian Drawings. Volume I. 14th-16th century, London, 1979, cat. 2, pp. 13-14, illus. The following is the full text of the entry: FRANCESCO DI SIMONE Francesco di Simone Ferrucci (1437-93) 2 Design for an altar with an arch framing a ciborium; mounted in a border decorated with trophies etc as on Vasari's mounts Inscribed within a cartouche in the middle of the lower border 'Desiderio da Settignano scult' Black chalk, pen and ink and wash, heightened with white, on paper partly tinted pink 17 1/2 x 11 (445 x 280) 4903 PROVENANCE Giorgio Vasari (as indicated by the ornamental border); Dr H. Wellesley (sale, Sotheby, 3 July 1866, 8th day, lot 1438, bought by J.C. Robinson for the Museum) LITERATURE Reitlinger, p. 6, no. 5 (as 'Tuscan late 15th century'); Otto Kurz, 'Giorgio Vasari's Libro de' Disegni' in OMD, 11, 1937, p. 12 (where the reference to pl. 4 should be deleted); the same, 'A Group of Florentine Drawings for an Altar' in Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, 18, 1955, pp. 35-53: Gigetta Dalli Regoli, 'Problemi di grafica crediana' in Critica d'Arte, 12, no. 76, 1965, pp. 25-45: the same, Lorenzo di Credi, Pisa, 1966, pp. 162 – 63 It was doubtless Vasari who wrote Desiderio's name in the cartouche, and he obviously ascribed the design to Desiderio because the ciborium resembles Desiderio's famous tabernacle in S. Lorenzo, Florence. Half of Vasa ri's ornamental border is cut away on each side, and the whole of the top has been cut off in order to make the sheet into the shape of an arch. At a later date the rectangular shape was restored by laying the drawing down on another sheet of paper. No. 3 below, obviously by the same artist, was acquired by the Museum at the Wellesley sale also and probably belonged to Vasari too, though it has lost its ornamental border. Both drawings were attributed to Desiderio in the sale catalogue. A third drawing in the Museum (no. 4) is again by the same hand and probably represents another project for the same altar. With these three drawings Dr Kurz, in his second article, associates four drawings in other collections which are manifestly by the same hand and connected with the same project. The artist, according to Kurz, made all these drawings, each different from the other, in an attempt to solve the difficult problem of combining a tabernacle with an altar. The seven drawings connected with the project are as follows: Design A. The subject of this entry. Kurz, pI. 16a. Design B. No. 3 below. Kurz, pI. 16b. Design C. No. 1436E in the Uffizi. Kurz, pl. 16c. Usually attributed to Lorenzo di Credi, notably by Berenson, but tentatively attributed to Francesco di Simone by Jacobsen (for bibliography see Kurz, loc. cit., p. 36, note no. I). The St Francis in one of the niches corresponds with the Saint in Design B, while the St John the Baptist in the other niche corresponds with the St John in Design A. Design D. No. 4 below. Kurz, pl, 17a. The St John the Baptist in the left hand niche is the same as the Saint in Design B. Design E. No. Orn. 615 in the Uffizi. Kurz, pl, 17b. An alternative version of the tabernacle which surmounts the altar in Design D. The same group of the Pietà is represented in Designs D, E and G. Design F. No. Orn. 614 in the Uffizi. Kurz, pI. 17C. The Virgin and Child in the central niche are the same as those in the middle niche of Design D. Design G. No. R.F. 1870: 454 in the Louvre. Kurz, pI. 18a. The design shows another alternative for the tabernacle surmounting the altar in Design D. (See also under Design E.) One of the saints standing beside the tabernacle is the same bishop, possibly St Zenobius, as stands in a niche in Design B. Kurz discusses the connection between these seven drawings and a design for an altar at Chatsworth (Kurz, pl, 17d). The St John the Baptist in this drawing corresponds with the Saint as represented in Design F. Kurz maintains, nevertheless, that the Chatsworth drawing is by a better hand than the other seven, and he suggests that it may be a project for the same commission by another artist, though it must have been known to the artist who made designs A to G. Some of the figures in these eight altar designs are also present on three sheets from a group of drawings that are believed to have formed part of a sketch-book: the so-called Verrocchio sketch-book. One is the property of Mr Philip Hofer (Kurz, pl. 18c); another is in the Louvre (Kurz, pl. 19a); and the third is at Chantilly (Kurz, pl. 19b). The drawings from the sketch-book were formerly ascribed to Verrocchio, but Morelli attributed them to Francesco di Simone, and his suggestion was endorsed, provisionally, by Pop ham and Pouncey in their account of two sheets from the series in the British Museum (Popham and Pouncey, nos. 56 and 57, pls. 54-7). They argue in favour of the attribution that there is a stylistic resemblance between these drawings and one in the National Museum at Stockholm that appears to be an original design by Francesco di Simone for his (signed) tomb of Alessandro Tartagni in S. Domenico at Bologna (illustrated in O. Siren, Nationalmusei Arsbok, 1944-45, p. 157). The question arises whether the altar designs may be ascribed to the same artist. Berenson, though he apparently did not have the advantage of knowing that there was a thematic connection between the drawings, yet thought they were certainly by the same hand. Kurz, on the other hand, considered the sketch-book drawings to be inferior in quality to the altar designs and suggested that they were copies by another artist. This is perhaps rather a hard verdict on the quality of the sketch-book drawings. Popham and Pouncey considered them to be 'the work of a Verrocchiesque sculptor of Francesco's quality'. The same might be said of the altar designs; in character as well as in subject matter they resemble the sketch-book drawings closely enough to justify a tentative attribution to Francesco di Simone. The designs in the Uffizi and the Louvre, which have been more discussed in print than ours, have been attributed to him by various scholars in the past, and so has no. 4 below. Kurz gives a bibliography for each of the Louvre and Uffizi sheets and summarises the other attributions that have been suggested. Dr Dalli Regoli, in the most recent discussion of the drawings in print, has discovered resemblances (not all of them very significant) between the drawings A to F and works by Lorenzo di Credi. She claims that the drawing C is definitely by Credi (as it was usually held to be in the past), and she surmises that the other designs were probably made in Verrocchio's studio after Credi had inherited it on the master's death. She suggests that the design for a tomb in our museum (no. 18), attributed to Verrocchio, may be another product of the same studio at that time. This is a reasonable theory, but it can hardly be regarded as proved yet. Reitlinger, Henry, Victoria and Albert Museum: a Selection of Drawings by Old Masters in the Museum Collections with a Catalogue and Notes, London, 1921, p.6, no.5 Kurz, Otto, 'Giorgio Vasari's Libro de' Disegni' in OMD, II, 1937, p.12 [delete reference to pl.] Kurz, Otto, 'A Group of Florentine Drawings for an Altar' in Journal of the Warburg and Courtauld Institutes, 18, 1955, pp.35-53 Dalli Regoli, Gigetta, 'Problemi di grafica crediana' in Critica d'Arte, 12, no.76, 1965, pp.25-45 Dalli Regoli, Gigetta, Lorenzo di Credi, Pisa, 1966, pp.162-63 Dalli Regoli, Gigetta, Verrocchio, Lorenzo di Credi, Francesco di Simone Ferrucci, Paris, 2003. Lambert, Susan. Drawing: Technique & Purpose, London, 1981. p.42. A. Petrioli Tofani ed., Il disegno fiorentino del tempo di Lorenzo il Magnifico, exh. cat., Florence, 1992, cat. 12.1, p. 240 Italian Renaissance Sculpture in the Time of Donatello, exh. cat, Detroits Museum of Arts (23 Oct 1985-5 Jan 1986) and Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth (22Feb-27 April 1986), Detroit, 1985, cat. 75. Louis Frank and Carina Fryklund, Giorgio Vasari, the Book of drawings: The fate of a mythical collection, LIENART, 2022. ISBN: 978-2359063738.
Collection	Prints, Drawings & Paintings Collection
Accession number	4903

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Record created	January 9, 2006
Record URL	https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O120305/design-for-an-altar-with-design-ferrucci-francesco-di/

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