GAUDENZIO FERRARI | Saint Matthew and the Angel

Comte Vilain XIIII, Bruxelles (son étiquette, non référencée par Lugt, avec le numéro: 80) ; 
Galerie Claude van Loock, Bruxelles ; 
Acquis auprès de cette galerie, mai 1984.

Rennes, 2012, n°1 (notice par Nicolas Schwed)

Laid down. It appears to have been restored to minimize cracks and losses in the sheet scattered around . There seem to be a repaired a loss to the bottom right corner, and center right margin and top center. There are several cracks now not terribly visible. The surface is in part abraded. Not in good condition. Sold unframed.
"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."

Drawings by Gaudenzio Ferrari, a Piedmontese artist active in the earlier part of the sixteenth century, are rare and seldom come on the art market.  Born in Alduggia, near Turin, Gaudenzio formed his style on the Lombard tradition, though Lomazzo claimed, in his Trattato della Pittura of 1584, that he was a pupil of Pietro Perugino.   Although Gaudenzio could have travelled to Central Italy, and his work does reflect the knowledge of the Umbrian master, his style is much more clearly influenced by the work of Bernardino Luini (ca. 1480-1532), and of his sophisticated older contemporary Bramantino (c. 1465-1530).  Gaudenzio’s stylistic development and early artistic experience were profoundly enhanced by his work in the important and vital ‘cantiere’ of the Sacro Monte, at Varallo, before moving to Vercelli in 1528. The Adrien drawing is a finished study related to one of the four evangelists, once part of the important polyptych executed by the artist for the church of San Cristoforo in Vercelli, commissioned by Giovan Angelo Corradi of Lignana, in June 1529.  The central panel with the Madonna degli Aranci is still in the apse of the same church, while the four Evangelists are in the presbytery, where the entire polyptych was moved in the second half of the 16^th Century (fig. 1). 

As Nicolas Schwed observed in his Rennes exhibition catalogue entry, the Adrien sheet shows no differences from its painted counterpart.  The drawing, which is pricked for transfer, is highly finished, and is characterized by extensive use of white heightening, which is very typical of Gaudenzio's drawings.  This heightening defines the figures, contrasting with the brown background of the architectural setting that frames the Apostle and the Angel.  Schwed has suggested stylistic comparisons with three sheets in particular, all similarly executed to the present work, with a very comparable use of white heightening against a brown background: two of these, representing Two Doctors of the Church, St. Augustine and St. Jerome and The Nativity, are in the Biblioteca Reale in Turin¹, while the third, depicting the Marriage of the Virgin, is in the Ambrosiana, Milan.<sup>2

1.</sup> Turin, Biblioteca Reale, respectively inv. nos. 14640 and 16149; for images see Mostra di Gaudenzio Ferrari, cat., Vercelli, Museo Borgogna, 1956, p. 114, no. 45 , pl. 99 and pp. 115-116 no. 47, reproduced pl.  101

^2. Milan, Biblioteca Ambrosiana, inv. no. 15531; for an image see Mostra di Gaudenzio Ferrari, op.cit., p. 119, no. 55, reproduced pl. 109