{"id":2653,"date":"2011-12-14T16:43:33","date_gmt":"2011-12-14T20:43:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.vassar.edu\/rosso\/"},"modified":"2013-05-30T11:21:44","modified_gmt":"2013-05-30T15:21:44","slug":"d-67-pandora-and-her-box","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/rosso\/catalogues\/drawings\/d-67-pandora-and-her-box\/","title":{"rendered":"D.67 Pandora and Her Box"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

D.67 Pandora and Her Box<\/p><\/div>\n

c. 1536<\/p>\n

Paris, Ensba, no. 340 (formerly no. 34886).<\/p>\n

Fig.D.67a<\/a> bw
\nFig.D.67b<\/a><\/p>\n

Pen and ink and wash over traces of black chalk, 24.2 x 29.3; somewhat faded and stained at the top center.\u00a0 Inscribed in ink at the lower left: maitre Roux<\/em>.<\/p>\n

PROVENANCE: Armand Valton; given to the Ensba in 1908.<\/p>\n

LITERATURE:<\/p>\n

Notice<\/em>, Fontainebleau, 1921, no. 124, as Rosso.<\/p>\n

Lavall\u00e9e, 1930, 22, as Rosso.<\/p>\n

Kusenberg, 1931, 137, 144, no. 63, 148, under no. 10, Pl. LXXVII, as Rosso, 1530-1540.<\/p>\n

Art Italien<\/em>, 1935, 39, no. 133, as Rosso, and made at Fontainebleau between 1530 and 1541.<\/p>\n

Berenson, 1938, no. 2458C, as Rosso.<\/p>\n

Lavall\u00e9e, 1948, 22, as Rosso.<\/p>\n

Barocchi, 1950, 108, 128, 131, 173-174, 214-215, Fig. 192, as Rosso, from the French period.<\/p>\n

Bologna and Causa, 1952, 60, as Rosso.<\/p>\n

Panofsky, 1956 (1965, 34-54, 79, 142, 145-146, Fig. 16), as Rosso, and as dating from 1534 or later because of the appearance of the crow, which first appeared as a symbol of Hope in the second edition of Alciati\u2019s Emblemata<\/em>, Augsburg, 1534, or from 1536 or later if Rosso used the third edition, Paris, 1536; also as done in connection with the Ignorance chass\u00e9e<\/em> [Enlightenment of Francis I] fresco in the Gallery of Francis I, either as a stucco relief, or more probably for a section of the fresco itself.<\/p>\n

Panofsky, 1958, 117, Fig. 5, 161-164, 165, n. 13, as in Panofsky 1956 (1965).<\/p>\n

Renaissance Italienne<\/em>, EdB-A, 1958, no. 46, as Rosso and made at Fontainebleau after 1530.<\/p>\n

Carroll, 1961, 446, 453, as Rosso, from his French period.\u00a0 Berenson, 1961, no. 2458C, as Rosso.<\/p>\n

Carroll, 1964 (1976), I, Bk. I, 247-252, 260, II, Bk. II, 387-390, D.43, Bk. III, Fig. 108, as Rosso, ca. 1534 – ca. 1536.<\/p>\n

B\u00e9guin, in Seizi\u00e8me Si\u00e8cle… Peintures et Dessins<\/em>, 1965-66, 202, Fig., 203, no. 249, as Rosso, and as generally dated 1534-1535.<\/p>\n

Carroll, 1966, 176, 179, as Rosso, and as probably done between 1534 and 1536.<\/p>\n

D. Rondorf, Der Ballsaal im Schloss Fontainebleau zur Stilaeschichte Primaticcios in Frankreich<\/em>, Bonn, 1967 (Thesis), 348 (from B\u00e9guin, in EdF<\/em>, 1972).<\/p>\n

Rome \u00e0 Paris<\/em>, 1968, no. 246, as Rosso and as made for the Gallery of Francis I.<\/p>\n

Perez Sanchez, 1969, 118, under no. 604, as Rosso (see below).\u00a0 Zerner, 1969, under A.F.22, as Rosso.<\/p>\n

B\u00e9guin, RdA<\/em>, 1969, 105, mentioned.<\/p>\n

B\u00e9guin, 1970, 9, 89, Fig. 12, as Rosso, and as generally dated 1534-1535.<\/p>\n

Fagiolo dell\u2019Arco, 1970, 498, Fig. 187.<\/p>\n

McAllister Johnson, in \u201cGalerie,\u201d RdA<\/em>, 1972, 162, Fig. 27, 171, n. 94, states that it is difficult to say that the drawing is related to the Gallery of Francis I.<\/p>\n

B\u00e9guin and Pressouyre, 1972, 126, related McAllister Johnson\u2019s opinion as above, adding his opinion that thematically and stylistically it is related to the relief of Rage and Madness <\/em>under the Centaurs and Lapiths <\/em>fresco, and that the figure of Pandora resembles Venus in the Venus and Minerva<\/em> scene.<\/p>\n

B\u00e9guin, in EdF<\/em>, 1972, 184, Fig., 185, no. 209, as Rosso, and generally dated 1534-1535.<\/p>\n

Raggio, 1974, 74, as Rosso.<\/p>\n

Gibbons, 1977, 56, under no. 150, as Rosso.<\/p>\n

Brugerolles, 1984, 95, no. 103, and Pl.<\/p>\n

L\u00e9v\u00eaque, 1984, 167, Fig., as Rosso.<\/p>\n

Carroll, 1987, 11, 298-301, no. 95, with Color Pl.<\/p>\n

Joukovsky, 1987 bis, 12, n. 33 (1992, 70. n. 1), noted the analogy with the Expulsion of Ignorance <\/em>in the Gallery of Francis I.<\/p>\n

Joukovsky, 1988, 24 (1992, 103), mentioned the figure with the hammer as in the Death of Adonis<\/em> in the Gallery of Francis I.<\/p>\n

Franklin, 1988, 326, no. 92, believes it may be a copy.\u00a0 (Franklin tells me he now thinks it is an autograph drawing.)<\/p>\n

Carroll, 1989, 27, Fig. 47.<\/p>\n

Miller, 1992, 111, 112.<\/p>\n

Brugerolles and Guillet, 1994, 36-40, no. 14, Color Pl. 37, as Rosso, and as related to the Expulsion of Ignorance <\/em>(or Francis I trampling upon the Demons of Ignorance<\/em>) in the Gallery of Francis I.<\/p>\n

B\u00e9guin, 1994, 271, wrongly as in the Louvre, as perhaps a preliminary study of the Expulsion of Ignorance <\/em>in the Gallery of Francis I, as suggested by the Panofskys, its theme perhaps also expressed in the Semele<\/em> fresco of the North Cabinet of the gallery: \u201cthe fatal consequences of asking too many questions.\u201d<\/p>\n

B\u00e9guin, 1995, 192, as Rosso.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The traditional attribution of this drawing to Rosso, which, so far as the inscription on it would seem to indicate, pre-dates this century, has only once been questioned (see below).\u00a0 It has always been dated in the artist\u2019s French period.\u00a0 As Barocchi and the Panofskys pointed out, the drawing is figuratively and compositionally very similar to Rosso\u2019s Enlightenment of Francis I <\/em>(Fig.P.22, VII S a<\/a>) in the Gallery of Francis I, a fresco that appears to have been designed in 1535 or 1536.\u00a0 Even more, the drawing resembles the approximately contemporary Allegorical Scene of Rage and Madness<\/em> in stucco beneath the Combat of Centaurs and Lapiths <\/em>fresco (Fig.P.22, I S c<\/a>).\u00a0 The extravagant beauty of this drawing – the swiftly moving pen lines, the clarity of the washes, and the resulting marvelous effects of blinding light and dramatic energy – emphatically affirms that the inventor of this fantastic scene is also its draughtsman.\u00a0 There is no other autograph drawing by Rosso that quite meets the terms of the handling of the Pandora and Her Box<\/em>, but the Throne of Solomon<\/em> (Fig.D.34<\/a>) shows, more methodically employed, the same kinds of lines, hooks, rows of short strokes, and superimposed washes.\u00a0 The draughtsmanship of the Pandora and Her Box<\/em> can quite easily be seen to be an extension, albeit an extraordinary one, of that of the Aretine drawing.\u00a0 But this transformation is also recognizable in the change from the rather ritualistic character of the composition of the Throne of Solomon<\/em>, and also of the more emotionally charged Madonna della Misericordia<\/em> of the same time (Fig.D.35a<\/a>), to the energetically acted-out and dramatically pictorialized scene of the nevertheless equally allegorical Pandora and Her Box<\/em>.\u00a0 Franklin\u2019s reservations of the autograph status of the drawing should be dispelled by comparing it with the quality of the several copies of it (listed below).<\/p>\n

The Panofskys\u2019 dating of the drawing not before 1534 or not before 1536, depending on which edition of Alciati\u2019s Emblemata<\/em> Rosso knew, provides at least the indication that the drawing is not an early French work by him (but see below).\u00a0 This is borne out by the style of the drawing, which differs so much from the Mars and Venus<\/em> of 1530 (Fig.D.42a<\/a>), the Judith<\/em> of 1530-1531, engraved by Boyvin (Fig.E.7<\/a>), and the early version of the Sacrifice<\/em> made for the Gallery of Francis I, which seems to date no later than early 1534 (see under P.22, VII N).\u00a0 The dramatic interpretation of the theme of the drawing resembles that of the Enlightenment of Francis I<\/em>, the Combat of Centaurs and Lapiths<\/em> (Fig.P.22, I S b<\/a>), and the Revenge of Nauplius<\/em> (Fig.P.22, III N a<\/a>) in the gallery, all of which appear to have been designed in 1535 or 1536.\u00a0 Even more, the Pandora and Her Box<\/em> looks like the Death of Adonis<\/em> (Fig.P.22, III S a<\/a>) and the final version of the Scene of Sacrifice<\/em> (Fig.P.22, VII N a<\/a>), designed probably between August and November 1536.\u00a0 Those frescoes and the drawing show the same kind of dramatic frenzy and similar turnings and foreshortenings of the figures.\u00a0 Consequently, the Pandora and Her Box<\/em> is probably datable around 1536.\u00a0 It does not appear related to any work by Rosso that can be placed later in his career.\u00a0 The dating of the drawing around 1536 can be supported by stylistic evidence without reference to its association with the editions of Alciati\u2019s Emblemata<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The Panofskys suggested that the drawing may have been made to find its place on the wall in the gallery where now appears the Enlightenment of Francis I<\/em>, either as a subsidiary scene or, more likely, as the subject of the principal fresco.\u00a0 As a substitute for the Birth of Venus<\/em> relief at the bottom of this wall, the Pandora and Her Box<\/em> is unlikely, for the subject of Venus is so appropriate to the iconography of other parts of the gallery.\u00a0 If the Pandora drawing was designed for the principal fresco it would, on stylistic grounds, have had to have been made at the same time as the Enlightenment of Francis I<\/em>.\u00a0 In other words, they would have been alternative possibilities.\u00a0 This could have been the case, but the subject of the executed fresco again appears iconographically related to other parts of the gallery, to the Venus and Minerva<\/em> scene in particular, and the Pandora and Her Box<\/em> does not appear an adequate substitute.\u00a0 McAllister Johnson related it \u201cpar le sujet et le motif\u201d to the Scene of Rage and Madness<\/em> beneath the Combat of Centaurs and Lapiths<\/em>, and saw that the figure of Pandora recalls Venus in the Venus and Minerva<\/em> fresco (Fig.P.22, I N a<\/a>), but rejected an association with the Enlightenment of Francis I<\/em>.\u00a0 There is no certainty that the drawing was intended for the Gallery of Francis I, but it is possible that it was designed for it, but, if so, then probably for a subsidiary position.\u00a0 As the rays emanating from the area of the box would not seem translatable in stucco but could be interpreted in paint, the placement of this scene could have been under the Venus and Minerva<\/em>, where there is now a painted view of the ch\u00e2teau.\u00a0 Here it could be related iconographically to the fresco above, to the Enlightenment of Francis I<\/em>, and to the Combat of Centaurs and Lapiths<\/em>.<\/p>\n

The old woman at the lower right was identified by the Panofskys as Envy eating her own entrails.\u00a0 However, what she bites on seems to be the head of a snake with its mouth open wide.\u00a0 All of the copies (see below) render this detail in the same way or even more specifically as a snake\u2019s head; in Fantuzzi\u2019s etching (Fig.E.79a<\/a>; see below), it is clearly a snake, the length of whose body is covered with scales.\u00a0 Ripa, Iconologia<\/em>, Rome, 1603, 241-243, describes Envy as an old hag and as eating her own entrails, but he also indicates that she can be shown with a snake biting her left breast also to signify that envy feeds upon itself.\u00a0 In the sum total of its characteristics, and in relation to the other figures in the drawing, the figure at the lower right is most likely Envy.\u00a0 Either Rosso shows an entrail as he does to give it a serpentine aliveness, or in showing an entrail-like snake being bitten by the old woman he gives evidence of a certain degree of perhaps intentional complexity in the iconography of the figure.1<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n

B\u00e9guin, Revue de l\u2019Art<\/em>, 1969, 105, believed that the bird in the drawing and in Fantuzzi\u2019s etching of this scene is a dove symbolizing Peace; Barocchi, 1950, 215, thought also that the bird in the drawing is a dove.\u00a0 The bird in the etching has a broad tail and full wings as well as rather fluffy feathers depicted all over it.\u00a0 It does look like a dove.\u00a0 But in the drawing it has a tapering tail and in general a more sleek appearance.\u00a0 However, it does not necessarily look like a crow.\u00a0 It is also not black, although this may not be a significant factor in a drawing that is not colored and where all shading is used to depict shadows.\u00a0 The Panofskys identified it as a crow because of its connection with Hope in Alciati\u2019s Emblemata<\/em> of 1534 and 1536, and in later editions; this bird would then have been used for the same symbolic meaning in Rosso\u2019s Pandora<\/em>.\u00a0 Although the species of the bird in Rosso\u2019s drawing cannot on its appearance alone be identified, the Panofskys\u2019 argument would seem to make it likely that it is a crow.\u00a0 But if not a crow, it could, as a dove, symbolize Peace, although in this case it cannot solely be related to Alciati\u2019s Emblemata<\/em>.\u00a0 Fantuzzi may not have wholly understood the symbolism of the bird, but he seems to have described it as a dove.<\/p>\n

COPIES, DRAWINGS: Gijon, Instituto Jovellanos, no. 604 (destroyed) (Fig.Pandora, Gijon<\/a>).\u00a0 Pen (and wash on the hair of the central male nude at the bottom?), 20 x 27.\u00a0 Inscribed in pencil on the verso<\/em>: Di Jacopo\u2026 onoggino<\/em>.\u00a0 Moreno Villa, 1926, 72-73, no. 604, as eighteenth century French, by a follower of La Fage.\u00a0 Perez Sanchez, 1969, 118, no. 604, Pl. 230, as a copy of Rosso\u2019s drawing.\u00a0 B\u00e9guin, in EdF<\/em>, 1972, 185, under no. 209, as a copy after Rosso (and wrongly as in the Academia San Fernando, Madrid).\u00a0 Brugerolles, 1984, 95, under no. 103 (also wrongly as in Madrid).\u00a0 Carroll, 1987, 301, n. 1, under no. 95.<\/p>\n

This copy is without the rays emanating from the area of the box.<\/p>\n

Formerly Villa di S. Michele, near Novellara.\u00a0 For a drawing of Pandora that might be related to Rosso\u2019s drawing, but showing serpents, perhaps as in Fantuzzi\u2019s etching, see under E.79.<\/p>\n

Paris, Ensba, no. 341 (formerly no. 22899) (Fig.Pandora, Beaux-Arts<\/a>).\u00a0 Pen and ink and wash, 24.3 x 28.8.\u00a0 PROVENANCE: Le Soufach\u00e9 Collection (inscription on mount).\u00a0 LITERATURE: Kusenberg, 1931, 148, no. 10, as a copy of Rosso\u2019s drawing.\u00a0 B\u00e9guin, in Seizi\u00e8me Si\u00e8cle… Peintures et Dessins<\/em>, 1965-1966, as a copy after Rosso.\u00a0 B\u00e9guin, in EdF<\/em>, 1972, 185, under no. 209, as a copy after Rosso.\u00a0 Brugerolles, 1984, 95, under no. 103.\u00a0 Carroll, 1987, 301, n. 1, under no. 95.\u00a0 Brugerolles and Guillet, 1994, 37, Fig., 40, n. 13, as a copy of Rosso\u2019s drawing.<\/p>\n

An accurate copy of Rosso\u2019s drawing, somewhat schematized, but with a few details slightly elaborated.\u00a0 There are also six long snakes radiating from Pandora\u2019s box along with the lines indicating the rays of light.<\/p>\n

Paris (summer, 1959), Paul Prout\u00e9 et son fils (Fig.Pandora, Prout\u00e9<\/a>).\u00a0 Pen and ink and wash, 24 x 28.8; damaged in the lower right corner and repaired; wm. similar to Briquet 13.082.\u00a0 Inscribed in ink in the lower left corner, but partly effaced: Rosso<\/em>.\u00a0 PROVENANCE: Louis Deglatigny (Lugt 1768a).\u00a0 This drawing was kindly brought to my attention by Bernice Davidson. (Photograph: N. Mandel, Paris).\u00a0 LITERATURE: Carroll, 1987, 301, n. 1, under no. 95.<\/p>\n

An accurate copy of Rosso\u2019s drawing with the washes somewhat simplified.<\/p>\n

Princeton, Princeton University Art Museum, no. 48.699 recto<\/em> (Fig.Pandora, Princeton<\/a>).\u00a0 Pen and ink, 24.7 x 29.6; slightly stained.\u00a0 Inscribed in ink at the lower left: polidoro<\/em>, and in pencil across the bottom: A. 22 Polidoro da Caravaggio \/ (verso Polidoro) \/ Purchased 1934<\/em>, and at the lower right: Pandora<\/em>; in pencil on an added piece of paper at the lower left: A 22 33<\/em>.\u00a0 LITERATURE: Gibbons, 1977, I, 55, no. 150 recto<\/em>, II, Fig., 105r., as by Girolamo da Carpi.\u00a0 Carroll, 1987, 301, n. 1, under no. 95.<\/p>\n

A rapid sketch after Rosso\u2019s drawing or after a copy of it, without the rays emanating from the area of the box.<\/p>\n

PRINT: Fantuzzi, E.79 (Fig.E.79a<\/a>).\u00a0 Etching. \u00a0This print shows the scene in reverse.\u00a0 The rays in the drawing are missing and there are seven snakes rising as a group from the area of the box.\u00a0 (Their size and arrangement are not related to what appears in the ENSBA copy of Rosso\u2019s drawing.)\u00a0 The bird has a broad tail and has feathers specifically depicted over its entire surface, perhaps suggesting a dove more clearly than in Rosso\u2019s drawing.<\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
\n

<\/a>1<\/sup> In Giulio Romano\u2019s drawing of Proserpina Entrusting Psyche with the Vase containing Beauty<\/em> (Louvre 3492; Hartt, 1958, I, 297, no. 171, II, Fig. 270), the figure of Envy at the far right also seems to show a conflation of entrails and snakes, although the smoothly curved forms look more like snakes.\u00a0 In the anonymous etching of the drawing (Zerner, IB<\/em>, 33, 1979, 349), scales have been added to specify snakes.\u00a0 The drawing in Frankfurt of Meleager Offering the Head of the Calydonian Boar to Atalanta <\/em>(Fig.RD.16<\/a>) shows a similar conflation, which remains the same in Fantuzzi\u2019s etching (Fig.RE.17<\/a>), that is, without the explicit addition of scales.\u00a0 However, in none of these works are the forms so irregular and gnarled to suggest entrails as they do in Rosso\u2019s Pandora<\/em> drawing.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

c. 1536 Paris, Ensba, no. 340 (formerly no. 34886). Fig.D.67a bw Fig.D.67b Pen and ink and wash over traces of black chalk, 24.2 x 29.3; somewhat faded and stained at the top center.\u00a0 Inscribed in ink at the lower left: maitre Roux. PROVENANCE: Armand Valton; given to the Ensba in 1908. LITERATURE: Notice, Fontainebleau, 1921, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"parent":820,"menu_order":71,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2653","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/rosso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2653","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/rosso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/rosso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/rosso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/rosso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2653"}],"version-history":[{"count":17,"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/rosso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2653\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9260,"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/rosso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2653\/revisions\/9260"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/rosso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/820"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/rosso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2653"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}