Reviews #16
Wednesday, 1 January 2025. Newsletter 16.
Drawing the Italian Renaissance
The King’s Gallery, London
Reviewed by Nigel Ip (Print Quarterly)
Attributed to Titian, An ostrich, c.1550 © Royal Collection Enterprises Limited 2024 | Royal Collection Trust
Federico Barocci, The head of a young woman, c.1582 © Royal Collection Enterprises Limited 2024 | Royal Collection Trust
Leonardo da Vinci, The drapery of a kneeling figure, c.1491-4 © Royal Collection Enterprises Limited 2024 | Royal Collection Trust
Leonardo da Vinci, The drapery of a kneeling figure (detail of Leonardo’s fingerprint), c.1491-4 © Royal Collection Enterprises Limited 2024 | Royal Collection Trust
Sat quietly in the first room of the King's Gallery is a young man hunched down in a chair, sketching on a sheet of paper. We do not know his name nor where he came from. This may sound like a description of one of the many copyists encouraged to sketch in the Drawing the Italian Renaissance exhibition, but it is, in fact, the first object in the show. The drawing’s cryptic attribution to an unidentified Florentine artist hints at the exhibition’s underlying narrative: the role of connoisseurship.
Featuring 156 sheets from the Royal Collection, this is the first large-scale survey of Italian draughtsmanship in Britain since the 2010 exhibition Fra Angelico to Leonardo: Italian Renaissance Drawings at the British Museum. While the latter focused on the period 1400-1510, the King’s Gallery show offers a kind of sequel with its major coverage of the 16th century. As a result, hidden under the guise of this thematically arranged highlights presentation is an attributional framework of stylistic differences from the various schools of Italian painting. One example is how a Tuscan painter like Fra Bartolomeo depicted generic trees with thin trunks, unlike Venetian painters from the circle of Domenico Campagnola whose trees possess far more detail and individualised features.
Roughly 10% of the exhibited drawings - 15 to be exact - are labelled as ‘circle of’, ‘copy after’, or by unidentified artists of a particular region. As a map at the entrance illustrates, a large concentration of the drawings come from Northern and Central Italy, yet some also originate from parts of Sicily and Sardinia. As there is no geographic or meritocratic hierarchy in the way things are displayed, these unknowns are given equal prominence to the Raphaels and Michelangelos in the show. There are, however, a few honourable mentions.
A black-and-white chalk study on blue paper of an ostrich, squared for transfer, has been attributed to Titian due to its paper type and subject matter suggesting a Venetian origin. It is one of 12 drawings being exhibited in the UK for the first time. Related to this are the mentions of whether drawings were made from real-life observations or purely from the artist's imagination, as was the case for Jacopo Bertoia’s drawing of six horses. Next to it is a stunning pen-and-ink drawing of a dromedary, considered to be an early copy of a lost drawing by Gentile Bellini.
Equally exciting is Fra Angelico’s head study of a cleric done in metalpoint, an extraordinarily rare survival of the Florentine artist’s draughtsmanship. Another great survival is a recently conserved cartoon by Bernardino Campi which once transferred a design of the Virgin and Child for an altarpiece in the church of San Biagio, Codogno. Adding to the list of exceptionally large drawings is a detailed design of a candelabrum, attributed to Marco Marchetti. Its asymmetrical design hints at its capacity to provide the patron or bronze-founder with a range of motifs to choose from.
Organised into broad categories - life drawing, portraits, landscapes and nature, applied arts, drawings of the divine, studies for interiors, and drawings as works of art - the curation is about as stripped back as it gets. Groupings tend to be relatively familiar, and when objects are not being thematically linked by subject matter, they are connected by the artist’s regional networks and stylistic influences. When Michelangelo isn’t next to Leonardo da Vinci, he is paired with Sebastiano del Piombo. Similarly, Perino del Vaga and Raphael’s studies for Roman frescoes transition elegantly into a trio of Parmese drawings by Parmigianino, Correggio, and Michelangelo Anselmi. This is also where the placement of unknowns affords a chance to critically reassess the attributions being put forward.
Situated between Leonardo’s bust-length drawing of a wild man and a fabulous trio of colourful Federico Barocci head studies is the head of an old woman by an unidentified Milanese artist. While its facial type attests to Leonardo’s influence, the use of coloured chalks on blue paper indicates a later date closer to Barocci’s time. Another visually intriguing drawing depicts the Adoration of the Shepherds, attributed to the little-known Neapolitan artist Leonardo Castellani, with its unusual combination of unrelated narratives and use of blue bodycolour in odd parts of the composition.
Probably the most unique drawing in the exhibition is one depicting Ierardina Dallumote giving thanks to the blessed Camilla by an unidentified Marchigan artist. Upon first impression, its medieval appearance is far removed from the pioneering naturalism seen in every figurative drawing presented in the show. Yet, it is, in fact, believed to have been made around the turn of the 16th century somewhere south of Raphael’s birthplace. A final drawing worthy of close attention is Leonardo’s drapery study for the angel in the Virgin of the Rocks which contains the master’s inky fingerprint.
Bridging the last two rooms, a selection of four drawings and a Wenceslaus Hollar etching offer insights into the Royal Collection’s acquisitions of Italian Renaissance drawings. Numbering almost 2,000 sheets, the majority probably entered the collection during Charles II’s reign (1660–85). Visitors learn about the collectors’ marks of Nicholas Lanier (a star) and Peter Lely (the initials ‘PL’), annotations and prices by the dealer William Gibson, and the habit of some collectors to cut off the corners of sheets for decorative purposes.
This is an exhibition aimed at introducing new audiences to the centrality of drawing in the Italian Renaissance, through its various functions, techniques, and wide-ranging stylistic appearances. Accompanying some of the works are cases containing samples of their respective mediums, such as chalks, iron gall ink, and various types of paper; these didactic displays are something the Royal Collection consistently does very well in their drawings exhibitions. However, even seasoned specialists can find new areas of growth due to the presence of lesser-known artists and uncertain attributions. If one were to suggest a game, one would cover all the labels and ask the experts to identify their makers. The range of answers would surely be fascinating, perhaps even groundbreaking.
Drawing the Italian Renaissance remains open at the King’s Gallery until March 9.
