Benvenuto Tisi, called il Garofalo Ferrara 1481 - 1559

Estimate

20,000 - 25,000 GBP

bidding is closed

Description

Benvenuto Tisi, called il Garofalo
a bishop seated with his left hand on a book, two young men kneeling nearby and a third standing behind, in an architectural setting
bears old attribution in pen and ink: Polidoro
pen and brown ink and wash over traces of black chalk, heightened with partly oxidised white, within a niche drawn in pen and ink and oxidised white

Condition

Left edge and top left corner have been restored and made up. Also the right corner and below to the right. The drawing has two small losses in the centre of the group of figures and at the top, near the drawn arch of the niche, but these are small and well restored. The paper is quite delicate with tiny little tears which are not very visible. The white is slightly oxidized in parts, but overall the drawing appears still quite fresh and legible.
"In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective, qualified opinion. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

Catalogue Note

This previously unknown study is an important addition to the corpus of Garofalo's drawings. Although it cannot be not connected with any surviving work by the artist, it is stylistically very close to the Virgin and Child with Saints in the British Museum (inv. no. 1895-9-15-790) which Pouncey attributed to him and which is a preparatory study for the altarpiece of 1524 in San Silvestro, Ferrara.¹ The use of pen is very similar and the facial types are characteristic.

Philip Pouncey, in an article on Garofalo's drawings, pointed out their rarity and the confusion in attributions of works on paper to this master, whose painted oeuvre is so well recognised and established.² Pouncey wrote that Garofalo's fame as the 'Ferrarese Raphael' encouraged the attribution to him of any work which seemed Raphaelesque. It is interesting to note that the Raphaelesque flavour of the present drawing, which is very much in keeping with the style of Garofalo, prompted an earlier collector to attribute it to one of Raphael's most individual and talented pupils, Polidoro da Caravaggio. Very few drawings by Garofalo have come to light since Pouncey's article in 1955, therefore any new attribution is significant.

1. See Anna Maria Fioravanti Baraldi, Il Garofalo, Rimini 1993, p. 270, no. 4, reproduced

2. See Philip Pouncey, 'Drawings by Garofalo', The Burlington Magazine, XCVII, 1955, pp. 196-202