Since at least the time of the Pierre-Jean Mariette (1694-1774), the drawing has been given to the Flemish sculptor Giovanni Bologna, who was mostly active in Florence, under which attribution it was also kept at the Morgan. The dates inscribed on the mount probably refer to Giambologna’s dates of birth and death. Mariette himself probably joined two separate studies of horses and extended the drawing at top, lightly sketching in the head of the rider in order to complete the composition. He probably also removed the inscription “Donõ il Bilib[erti]:” from an old mount and inserted it at lower left. This puzzling inscription seems to suggest that the drawing was a gift by the artist Giovanni Biliverti to a former owner. The drawing exhibits a north European influence and may possibly be by Giambologna, who remains little known as a draftsman, as well be by Biliverti himself, even though nothing directly comparable in style is known.
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.
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."
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.
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.