{"id":2734,"date":"2011-12-14T17:05:22","date_gmt":"2011-12-14T22:05:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.vassar.edu\/rosso\/"},"modified":"2013-03-28T16:38:34","modified_gmt":"2013-03-28T20:38:34","slug":"d-81-design-for-a-tomb","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/rosso\/catalogues\/drawings\/d-81-design-for-a-tomb\/","title":{"rendered":"D.81 Design for a Tomb"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>

D.81 Design for a Tomb<\/p><\/div>\n

1539 or 1540<\/p>\n

London, British Museum, no. 1853-12-10-842.<\/p>\n

Fig.D.81a<\/a>
\nFig.D.81b<\/a> bw<\/p>\n

Pen and ink and wash over slight traces of black chalk, with horizontal lines made with a stylus at the left and right of the base of the tomb above the plinth, 37.3 x 22.7; very well preserved, not faded at all; partial vertical center line in black chalk?; hole upper left, very slightly stained here and there, and creased down the center; laid down; wm.?\u00a0 A five-line inscription appears on the base of the tomb, carefully lettered in majuscules but without meaning;1<\/sup><\/a> on the mat is written: Another version of this of excellent Quality in collection of Ralph Holland, Newcastle on Tyne<\/em>, and, in another hand: Boscoli (Antal)<\/em>.<\/p>\n

PROVENANCE: An unidentified collector\u2019s mark is in the lower right corner, possibly that of Count(?) Gelozzi or Gelosi (Lugt 545; see Turner, 1986).<\/p>\n

LITERATURE:<\/p>\n

Kusenberg, 1931, 131, 137, 142, no. 48, as Rosso, 1530-1540, and possibly related to the model for a tomb commissioned from Rosso in 1531.<\/p>\n

Popham, 1939, 30, as Rosso.<\/p>\n

Barocchi, 1950, 252, n. 9, Fig. 234, as too mediocre for Rosso.<\/p>\n

Carroll, 1964 (1976), I, Bk. I, 220-224, II, Bk. II, 339-342, D.35, Bk. III, Fig. 97, as Rosso, 1531-1532.<\/p>\n

Carroll, 1966, 179-180, Fig. 11, as Rosso, and a late drawing, after 1536.<\/p>\n

B\u00e9guin, 1970, 9, 92, and Fig. 33, as Rosso, and done in France.<\/p>\n

B\u00e9guin, in EdF<\/em>, 1972, 187, no. 211, 188, Fig., and in Fontainebleau<\/em>, 1973, I, 43, Fig. 7, II, 65, no. 211, as Rosso, and done in France.<\/p>\n

B\u00e9guin, \u201cMa\u00eetre Roux,\u201d 1972, 102, as Rosso, and possibly done at the end of his life.<\/p>\n

Raggio, 1974, 74, as Rosso, and as reflecting the lessons learned from Raphael in Rome.\u00a0 L\u00e9v\u00eaque, 1984, 176, as Rosso and related to Michelangelo\u2019s tomb of Julius II.<\/p>\n

Turner, 1986, 152, no. 110, 153, Color Pl.<\/p>\n

Carroll, 1987, 32, 354-357, no. 112, with Fig., as Rosso, 1539 or 1540, and as possibly for his own tomb.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Although the composition of the Design for a Tomb<\/em> cannot be related to that of any work by Rosso, the character of its various parts and the draughtsmanship of it clearly indicate that it is a drawing by him.\u00a0 The nude youths at the top of the tomb are similar to those in stucco above and to the left and right of the Venus and Minerva<\/em> (Fig.P.22, I N a<\/a>) and the Education of Achilles<\/em> (Fig.P.22, II N a<\/a>) in the Gallery of Francis I.\u00a0 At either side of the reclining man in the drawing are two standing putti that resemble those beneath the side frescoes flanking the Loss of Perpetual Youth<\/em> (Fig.P.22, II S a<\/a>); they are also very similar to the putti in Rosso\u2019s Allegory of the Virgin<\/em> known from the original or very fine copy in the British Museum (Fig.D.33Aa<\/a>).\u00a0 Something of the contortion of the small figures on either side of the inscribed plaque can be found in the painted and stucco figures that flank the Death of Adonis<\/em> in the gallery at Fontainebleau (Fig.P.22, III S a<\/a>).\u00a0 Broad and simple volutes like those that frame the Entombment<\/em> relief on the tomb can be found above the Loss of Perpetual Youth<\/em> and below the Twins of Catania<\/em> (Fig.P.22, V N a<\/a>).\u00a0 Certain postures and gestures of the figures in the Entombment<\/em> are related to those in Rosso\u2019s Piet\u00e0<\/em> in Borgo Sansepolcro (Fig.P.19a<\/a>) and in his painting in the Louvre (Fig.P.23a<\/a>).\u00a0 The position of Christ\u2019s legs recalls those of Christ in Rosso\u2019s lost Piet\u00e0 <\/em>of around 1537 known from copies (Fig.D.71A<\/a>) and those of Adonis in the Death of Adonis <\/em>in the Gallery of Francis I.\u00a0 Although not posed quite like any other figure by Rosso, the sleeping man in the center of the monument has, in his largeness and ease of posture, something in common with the sleeping woman in the Loss of Perpetual Youth <\/em>and with the Reclining Nude Woman<\/em> of 1539 or 1540 in the British Museum (Fig.D.79a<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Graphically, the Design for a Tomb <\/em>is a somewhat freer version of what appears in the Throne of Solomon <\/em>of 1529 (Fig.D.34<\/a>) and in the Allegory of the Virgin<\/em> of the same year (Fig.D.33Aa<\/a>), where at least one putto has the kind of pointed head of two of the figures on the tomb.\u00a0 Similar heads are found in the scenes of the Aretine Design for a Chapel<\/em> (Fig.D.37a<\/a>).\u00a0 In its looseness and fluidity, and in the brilliance of its light and dark contrasts, the draughtsmanship of this drawing is even closer to that of the Pandora and Her Box<\/em> of around 1536 (Fig.D.67a<\/a>).\u00a0 But this comparison also shows how much freer the handling of the Design for a Tomb <\/em>is, recalling in this respect the draughtsmanship of Rosso\u2019s red chalk Reclining Nude Woman<\/em> in the British Museum.\u00a0 The Holy Family<\/em> in Milan (Fig.D.82<\/a>) is also brought to mind, although that drawing is a copy, albeit an excellent one, of a lost drawing.<\/p>\n

While the Design for a Tomb<\/em> has elements that can be related to the decorations of the Gallery of Francis I and to earlier works by Rosso, it is not intimately or extensively related to any of them.\u00a0 Architecturally, the monument is quite unlike the Design for a Chapel<\/em> and the Design for an Altar<\/em>; its architecture is also quite unlike that in any of Rosso\u2019s other drawings and paintings.\u00a0 It has a simplicity but at the same time a compactness and density in its combination of architectural blocks and sculpture that seem to displace the complexities or multiplicities of Rosso\u2019s other architectural inventions.\u00a0 Thus it seems likely that the drawing was done after those other projects and after his designs for the Gallery of Francis I were completed.\u00a0 The Design for a Tomb<\/em> is probably a very late drawing done in 1539 or 1540, about the same time as the Reclining Nude Woman<\/em> in London and the original of the Holy Family<\/em> in Milan.2<\/sup><\/a><\/p>\n

COPY, DRAWING: Newcastle upon Tyne, Ralph Holland Collection (Fig.Holland Copy<\/a>).\u00a0 Pen and ink and brown wash over traces of red chalk, 26.6 x 20.5 (maximum measurements); a slight tear at the lower left.\u00a0 Inscribed in ink at the upper right: 139<\/em>.\u00a0 The plaque at the base of the tomb itself bears a row of letters in ink.\u00a0 The verso<\/em> shows several studies of consoles in pen and ink and bluish wash (Fig.Holland verso<\/em><\/a>).\u00a0 Originally, according to Mr. Holland, a small piece of paper was pasted on the verso<\/em> showing a caryatid with a basket on its head.\u00a0 PROVENANCE: a note on a photograph of the recto<\/em> in the British Museum states that in November 1946 the drawing was in the collection of R. Frank and that it was attributed to Battista d\u2019Angelo.\u00a0 LITERATURE: B\u00e9guin, EdF<\/em>, 1972, 187, under no. 211, recto<\/em> as a copy after Rosso\u2019s drawing.\u00a0 Carroll, 1987, 357, n. 2, under no. 112.<\/p>\n

The recto<\/em> shows the same monument as in the British Museum drawing but with somewhat broader proportions and with the inscription replaced by a single row of different letters; the simple large plinth of the tomb is also missing.\u00a0 The drawing is a rather awkward copy of Rosso\u2019s original work.\u00a0 The consoles on the verso<\/em> have nothing to do with Rosso.\u00a0 I have not seen a photograph of the caryatid.<\/p>\n

\n

 <\/p>\n

\n
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<\/a>1<\/sup> The careful printing of this inscription looks very much like Rosso\u2019s handwriting as we know it from his letter of 1526 to Michelangelo (Fig.DOC.9<\/a>) and from the inscription on the Petrarch drawing at Christ Church (Fig.D.47c<\/a>).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\n

<\/a>2<\/sup>\u00a0 Kusenberg, 1931, 131, suggests that the drawing may be related to \u201cune model d\u2019une s\u00e9pulture\u201d for which Rosso was paid in 1531 (see L.37<\/a>).\u00a0 Although such an early date once seemed possible to me, that opinion has now to be recognized as highly improbable.\u00a0 The Design for a Tomb<\/em> has almost nothing in common with the architecture that appears in such early French drawings by Rosso as the Annunciation<\/em> in the Albertina (Fig.D.43a<\/a>), the Narcissus<\/em>, known from a good copy in Turin (Fig.D.44<\/a>) and from a print by Delaune (Fig.E.49<\/a>), and the slightly later Petrarch drawing at Christ Church (Fig.D.47a<\/a>).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

1539 or 1540 London, British Museum, no. 1853-12-10-842. Fig.D.81a Fig.D.81b bw Pen and ink and wash over slight traces of black chalk, with horizontal lines made with a stylus at the left and right of the base of the tomb above the plinth, 37.3 x 22.7; very well preserved, not faded at all; partial vertical […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":0,"parent":820,"menu_order":86,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-2734","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/rosso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2734","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=2734"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/rosso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2734\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":9004,"href":"https:\/\/pages.vassar.edu\/rosso\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/2734\/revisions\/9004"}],"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=2734"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}