- Museum number
- 1898,1123.3.36
- Description
-
Aspertini sketch-book (so-called London I): 37th opening
left (1898,1123.3(36) verso) and right-hand page (1898,1123.3(37) recto) with Hermes seeking Persephone's return from the Underworld, Hades seated at the centre, beside Cerberus, the three-headed dog (left side of opening); part of the Judgment of Paris, seated facing Hermes at right being handed golden apple by Zeus (?), the Nymphs behind him (right side of opening) c. 1535
Pen and brown ink, brown wash, over black chalk, some touches of white heightening, on vellum
- Production date
- 1532-1535
- Dimensions
-
Height: 248 millimetres
-
Width: 184 millimetres (each page)
- $Inscriptions
-
- Curator's comments
- Faietti (Faietti-Scaglietti 1995, pp. 290-1 under cat. dis. 75) believes this to be the first reproduction of a sarcophagus representing Mercury with Proserpina, Pluto and Hecate(?) in the Underworld; Bober-Rubinstein, no. 9a, p. 57, see www.census.de, ID 26157), found in Rome at the time of Leo X (1513-21) and given to Federico II Gonzaga in Mantua by Adrian VI in 1524; Bober-Rubinstein (tentatively) and Faietti identify the female figure on the right of the relief, accompanied by Cerberus, as Hecate, which could be right if the object in her right hand can be interpreted as a torch. Aspertini might have seen the sarcophagus when it was still in Rome and recorded it then, although Bober (1957, p. 67) believes that the accuracy of his drawing and the intelligent reconstruction of damaged details would indicate that this is not a copy after a previous drawing. One needs to add though that Aspertini omits the alleged object held by Hecate, invents a device to raise the height of the overhanging tent and interprets the so called figure of Hecate as a male. Aspertini reproduced other antique models that were present in Mantua in the 1520s (see ff. 1898,1123.3.11 and left-hand page of 1898,1123.3.13) and there is the possibility of a Mantuan trip and the encounter with the frescoes by Giulio Romano in Palazzo Te. The image does continue on the right-hand page, but with a different subject, namely part of the Judgment of Paris: as Bober observes (1957, p. 68), because of lack of space Aspertini is forced to move the Nymphs closer to Paris and one is made to lean on his shoulder. The figure of Zeus (?) holding the apple is the artist's addition and this is interesting, as Aspertini is here reinterpreting the scene in order to make it independent from its continuation (the apple is normally handed over to Aphrodites from Paris). Infact the subject is based on the far left of a sarcophagus in Villa Medici (Bober-Rubinstein 1986, no. 119, p. 149, see www.census.de, ID 15277) and Aspertini completes the image on f. 1898,1123.3.38. According to Bober, it came to the Villa Medici from the della Valle Capranica collection, but it is not certain whether it belonged to the della Valle in Aspertini's day (see Bober 1957, p. 68, under f. 38v-39). Aspertini studied the sarcophagus also on f. 19 of the Codex Wolfegg. For other drawings in this sketch-book after statues or reliefs in the della Valle Collection see also 1898,1123.3.3; 1898,1123.3.5; 1898,1123.3.7; 1898,1123.3.13; 1898,1123.3.16; 1898,1123.38; 1898,1123.3. 45; 1898,1123.3.47 and 1898,1123.3.48 [Bober 2v-3, 4v-5, 7, 12v-13, 15v-16, 38v-39, 45v, 47v, 48v]
Lit.: P.P. Bober, 'Drawings after the Antique by Amico Aspertini. Sketchbooks in the British Museum', London, 1957, f. 36v-37, pp. 67-8; P.P. Bober-R. Rubinstein, 'Renaissance Artists and Antique Sculpture', New York, 1986, under no. 119 (right-hand page only); M. Faietti- D. Scaglietti Kelescian , 'Amico Aspertini', Modena, 1995, under cat. dis. 75; G. Schweikhart, 'Der Wolfegg Codex. Zeichnungen nach der Antike von Amico Aspertini', London, 1986, p. 62.
For a general introduction to the sketchbook see 1898,1123.3.1
- Location
- Not on display
- Acquisition date
- 1898
- Department
- Prints and Drawings
- Registration number
- 1898,1123.3.36
