Pomponio Amalteo

Estimate

4,000 - 6,000 GBP

bidding is closed

Description

Pomponio Amalteo
a pair of drawings, each with figures of two apostles
Both pen and black and brown ink and brown wash, heightened with white, on blue paper, top corners cut;
both bear numbering on the backing card, in brown ink, upper right: 3 and 4

Provenance

Sir Peter Lely (L.2094);
William Gibson (his inscription on the original album: K. / 17 drawing [sic] of / Purdenone);
Jonathan Richardson Sr. (L.2184),
his posthumous sale, London, 9 February 1747, lot 37: 'one a pocket book with seventeen drawings of Pordenone';
Thomas Worsley,
by descent to Sir Marcus Worsley, Bt., Hovingham Hall, Yorkshire, until 1977;
Private Collection, Jersey

Exhibited

Edinburgh, The Merchant's Hall, Italian 16th-Century Drawings from British Private Collections, 1969, no. 68, album pages 3 and 4, page 4 reproduced pl. 9 (as Giovanni Antonio da Pordenone)

Literature

T. Mullaly, 'Italian Sixteenth-Century Drawings in Edinburgh', The Burlington Magazine, CXI, October 1969, p. 628, p. 629, page 3 reproduced fig. 70 (as Pordenone);
C. Cohen, I Disegni di Pomponio Amalteo, Pordenone 1975, p. 81, reproduced figs. 61 and 62;
K. Andrews, 'The Drawings of Giovanni Antonio da Pordenone', review of Cohen's book, The Burlington Magazine, CXXIII, February 1981, pp.103-104 (as Pordenone);
J. Bean, 15th and 16th Century Italian Drawings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York 1982, pp. 22-23

Condition

Both laid down on the 17th Century album cardboard. Overall in fairly good condition. There is some brown staining on both drawings and some surface dirt, otherwise medium remains fresh and vibrant.
"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

Pomponio Amalteo was the pupil and son-in-law of Pordenone. These two studies come from a small album of drawings that had a traditional attribution to Pordenone. The album contained seventeen drawings, and it was inscribed in a seventeenth hand: Disegni di Man del / Purdenone / rarissimi. These drawings were later rightly attributed to Pomponio Amalteo by Charles Cohen, who established that they are preparatory for the artist's pendentives in Santa Maria delle Grazie, Prodolone (Friuli). Amalteo signed the contract for this commission in 1538. The drawings come so close to the style of his master Pordenone that for some time the attribution to Amalteo has been debated. Three drawings from the same album are now in the Metropolitan Museum.¹

1. Inv. nos. 1977.249 a, b, c; J. Bean, loc. cit., nos. 7, 8, 9, reproduced; see also Cohen, op. cit., pp. 76-82