Francesco de' Rossi, dit Francesco Salviati

The following condition report has been provided by Caroline Corrigan, 17-25 rue Charles Graindorge, 93170 Bagnolet, Tel: 33 (0)1 43 63 25 44, Email : caroline.corrigan@wanadoo.fr, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. Generally in very good condition. On the recto the remains of an old mounts on the bottom of the sheet. A trace of a hinge at the centre of the right edge. An abrasion on the figure's drapery, on the red chalk at the level of the thigh. A little diagonal cut to the lower left of the recto, visible at the upper right of the verso.
"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."

Cette étude très originale date certainement du premier séjour de l'artiste à Rome, pendant l'hiver 1530-31. Un an plus tard, il fut rejoint par Giorgio Vasari qui écrivit : 'attesero quella vernata...con molto profitto, alle cose dell'arte, non lasciando nè in palazzo nè in altra parte di Roma cosa alcuna notabile, la quale non disegnassono'. 

Les carrières de Salviati et Vasari ont débuté à Rome où, comme beaucoup d'autres artistes de l'époque, ils ont appris en copiant et dessinant d'après l'antique ainsi que d'autres aspects de la cité éternelle.  Francesco Salviati fut donc formé initialement en combinant cette approche créative de l'antique à l'influence d'artistes romains contemporains, et à une étude plus minutieuse de l'art du dessin. Sa fascination pour l'œuvre de Raphaël - et de Polidoro da Caravaggio qui fut d'ailleurs un élève important de ce dernier - est tout à fait connue.  Bien que le verso de cette feuille ne puisse être directement rapproché d'une autre composition en particulier, il semble cependant refléter le regard de Salviati sur l'antique et sur les beaux décors de façade réalisés par Polidoro.

L'étude des Jeunes enfants ajustant un mannequin au recto peut être rapprochée d'une Académie d'homme conservée au Museum of Art, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.¹

Nous remercions Catherine Monbeig-Goguel de nous avoir confirmé l'attribution à Francesco Salviati.

1. Voir C. Monbeig-Goguel, Francesco Salviati (1510-1563) ou La Bella Maniera, Rome, Villa Médicis, Paris, Musée du Louvre, 1998, p. 156, reproduit sous le no. 41.



RECTO: SEVERAL YOUNG CHILDREN ADJUSTING A MANNEQUIN AND A ST JOHN THE EVANGELIST;
VERSO: A STUDY AFTER THE ANTIQUE WITH TWO HORSEMEN, ONE WOUNDED

Red chalk (recto and verso), pen and brown ink (recto);
bears old attribution, lower left of verso: Del Rosso Fiorentino

The attribution to Francesco Salviati has been confirmed by Catherine Monbeig-Goguel.  This very eccentric study must relate to the artist's early stay in Rome, where Salviati settled during the winter of 1530-31. A year later, he was joined there by Giorgio Vasari who wrote: 'attesero quella vernata ...con molto profitto , alle cose dell'arte, non lasciando nè in palazzo nè in altra parte di Roma cosa alcuna notabile, la quale non disegnassono'. 

The careers of both artists were nurtured in Rome, and like almost every artist of that period they spent a great deal of time copying and drawing from the antique, as well as from any other notable feature of the eternal city. The basis of Francesco Salviati's formation was therefore a creative use of the antique, mediated by a synthesis with the present, together with the observation and assimilation of contemporary Roman painters, and last but not least a great emphasis on the training in disegno. His fascination with Raphael -- and with Polidoro da Caravaggio, who was one of the more individual of Raphael's pupils -- is well known.  Although the verso of this sheet cannot be directly connected with any other composition, it seems very clearly to reflect Salviati's responses to his experiences both of the antique and of Polidoro's fascinating facade decorations.

The study with 'Young Children Adjusting a Mannequin' on the recto can be related to a male nude in the Museum of Art, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.¹


1. See C. Monbeig-Goguel, Francesco Salviati (1510-1563) ou La Bella Maniera, Rome, Villa Medici, Paris, Louvre, 1998, p. 156, reproduced under no. 41.