Italian School

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Italian School

16th century

Horse and Rider, and a Second Horse in Profile to Right

Black chalk on paper; laid down on Mariette mount.

8 7/16 x 8 11/16 inches (214 x 222 mm)

Purchased by Pierpont Morgan (1837-1913) in 1909.

I, 38

Notes:

These two studies of horses, which Pierre-Jean Mariette believed to be by the sculptor Giambologna (1529-1608), today seem to be one composition, but this was not originally the case. Upon careful examination, a vertical seam is visible between the two animals. The sketches were probably drawn by the artist on a larger sheet of paper, perhaps too wide to fit in Mariette's standard mat. The collector cut out the two studies and carefully reassembled them closer together to create a more compact composition. Similarly, he removed the old handwritten inscription from the original sheet and inserted it at the lower left of the newly reconfigured drawing. -- Exhibition Label, from "Pierre-Jean Mariette and the Art of Collecting Drawings."
Formerly attributed to Giovanni Bologna, known as Giambologna, Douai 1524-1608 Florence; possibly attributed to Giovanni Biliverti, Florence 1585-1644 Florence.
Watermark: none.

Inscription:

Inscribed at lower right in pen and brown ink, on added section, "Donõ il Bilib:;" inscription at lower right in pen and brown ink (mostly effaced), "Leonardo(?) da Vinci;" on mount, at lower left, just beneath Mariette framing lines in pen and brown ink, "322;" at lower center, in cartouche in pen and brown ink, "JOAN. BOLOGNA;" above this, in a different hand, in pen and brown ink, "Zan;" on verso at upper left, in graphite, "Los - 223-8-22;" on mount at lower right, below drawing, in graphite, "608."

Provenance:

Pierre-Jean Mariette (1694-1774), Paris (Lugt 2097); Comte Moritz von Fries (1777-1826), Vienna (Lugt 2903) [sales1824, 1828]; Sir Thomas Lawrence (1769-1830), London (Lugt 2445) [bought from Fries collection, pre-1824 via W. Mellish in London]; possibly Brooke sale, London, 20 June 1891, lot 185 "Sketches by John of Bologna; [...]", with others, bought by Murray for £1-0-0; Charles Fairfax Murray (1849-1919), London and Florence; from whom purchased through Galerie Alexandre Imbert, Rome, in 1909 by Pierpont Morgan (1837-1913), New York (no mark; see Lugt 1509); his son, J. P. Morgan, Jr. (1867-1943), New York.

Associated names:

Giambologna, 1529-1608, Formerly attributed to.
Bilivert, Giovanni, 1585-1644, Possible attribution.
Mariette, Pierre Jean, 1694-1774, former owner.
Fries, Moritz, Graf von, 1777-1826, former owner.
Lawrence, Thomas, Sir, 1769-1830, former owner.
Murray, Charles Fairfax, 1849-1919, former owner.
Morgan, J. Pierpont (John Pierpont), 1837-1913, former owner.
Morgan, J. P. (John Pierpont), 1867-1943, former owner.

Bibliography:

Selected references: Fairfax Murray 1905-12, 1: no. 38 (as Giovanni da Bologna); New York 1968, 27, no. 18 (as Italian [Florentine], VXI century).
Collection J. Pierpont Morgan : drawings by the old masters formed by C. Fairfax Murray. London : Privately printed, 1905-1912, I, 38.

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