Attributed to Alessandro Vellutello

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Purgatorio, Canto XXVIII. The Garden of Eden at the Top of the Mountain: Virgil, Dante and Stazio Climb up the Stairs and Arrive at the Plain Which Borders on a Forest; They Cross the Forest Which is Inhabited by Birds; Dante Speaks to Matilda

Pen and brown ink on paper.

8 1/8 x 11 inches (207 x 280 mm)

Gift of Mr. H.P. Kraus.

1966.12:16

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Notes:

Watermark: none.
Formerly attributed to Italian School, 16th cent.

Inscription:

Inscribed by the artist in pen and brown ink, at upper left, "Metelda / [don]na soletta, che si gia / cantando et iscegliendo fior da fiore, gialli e verdi / ----- si che era pieno il prato / si venia a precisandro(?) incontro al poeta / accompagnata con esso sup[er] la ripa / et cantava Beati quox.[ie. Quibus] remisse sunt / iniquitates equorum tecta sunt peccata; below this, [...] passi era largo il fiumicello / chiamasi Lethe / Delectasti me domine e / nel salmo Bonum est confiteri; below this, Un vivo(?) forte [or fonte(?)] navig / da due parti / et da q[uest]a [a superscript] banda(?) / toglie altrui memoria / del peccato chiamasi Lethe / del altra banda d'ogni ben / fatto la rende chiama' Eunoe / il q[ua]le e l'ultimo che [...(?)] / [...] Dante da Metelda nella fine / della pianura"; on the mountain, throughout, labelling the figures, "V[ergil]; D[ante], Stazio, Sta[zio], M[etelda], Metelda"; at upper center, "Levante"; in lower right corner, Levan[te]; at lower left corner, "ponente".

Provenance:

J. I. Davis, London; H. P. Kraus (1907-1988), Vienna and New York, by whom presented to the Pierpont Morgan Library in 1966.

Associated names:

Anonymous, Italian School, 16th cent., Formerly attributed to.
Davis, J. Irving, 1889-1967, former owner.
Kraus, Hans Peter, 1907-1988, former owner.
Dante Alighieri, 1265-1321, Divina Commedia.

Bibliography:

Rhoda Eitel-Porter, "Drawings for the Woodcut Illustrations to Alessandro Vellutello's 1544 Commentary on Dante's Comedia", Print Quarterly, XXXVI, March 2019, pp. 3-17
Matthew Collins, "The Forgotten Morgan Dante Drawings, Their Influence on the Marcolini Commedia of 1544, and Their Place within a Visually-Driven Discourse on Dante's Poem," Dante Studies 136 (2018): 93-132.
Lamberto Donati, "Commento ad una serie di disegni del XVI secolo illustranti la Divina Commedia", La Bibliofilia, LXV, 1963, fig. 11.
Adams, Frederick B., Jr., ed. Fifteenth Report to the Fellows of the Pierpont Morgan Library, 1967 & 1968. New York : Pierpont Morgan Library, 1969, p. 91-92.
Pierpont Morgan Library. Review of Acquisitions, 1949-1968. New York : Pierpont Morgan Library, 1969, p. 150.

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Vellutello, Alessandro

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