- Museum number
- Pp,1.18
- Description
-
A nude man holding a rearing horse
Silverpoint, grey-black wash, heightened with white, on blue prepared paper
- Production date
- 1447-1449 (circa)
- Dimensions
-
Height: 359 millimetres
-
Width: 246 millimetres
- Curator's comments
- The medium of the drawing has been confirmed by Satoko Tanimoto and Giovanni Verri from the Department of Scientific Research in a campaign of investigation of the Italian 15th century drawings linked to the forthcoming 2010 exhibition. The analytical methods employed have been non-destructive and non-contact ones: infrared and ultraviolet imaging, with XRF and Raman spectrometry.
Lit.: J.D. Passavant, 'Tour of a German Artist in England', London, 1836, (translation from the original German ed. published in Frankfurt, 1833), II, p. 94 (as Pollaiuolo); G. Waagen, 'Treasures of Art in Great Britain', London, 1854, I, p. 224 (as Pollaiuolo); A.E. Popham and P. Pouncey, 'Italian drawings in the BM, the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries', London, 1950, I, no. 152, II, pl. CXLI (as Studio of Filippo Lippi); L. Ragghianti Collobi, review of Popham and Pouncey 1950 catalogue, "Critica d'Arte", 1954, p. 600 (as Francesco Pesellino); L. Grassi, 'I disegni italiani del Trecento e Quattrocento: scuole fiorentina, senese, marchigiana, umbra', Venice, n.d [1960?], no. 35 (as Domenico Veneziano); B. Degenhart and A. Schmitt, 'Corpus der italienischen Zeichnungen, 1300-1450, Süd-und Mittelitalien', Berlin, 1968, I-2, no. 373, I-4, pl. 308c (as Fra Angelico); D.Cole Ahl, 'Benozzo Gozzoli', New Haven and London, 1996, p. 6, footnote 14 (with previous bibliography), colour plate 1; C. Van Cleave, 'Master Drawings of the Italian Renaissance', London, 2007, p. 46, illustrated p. 47; H. Chapman and M. Faietti, exhib. cat., BM, London, `Fra Angelico to Leonardo: Italian Renaissance Drawings`, 2010, no. 12, pp. 118-19 (cat. entry by M. M. Rook).
Popham & Pouncey 1950
[Attributed to the Studio of Filippo Lippi by Popham & Pouncey 1950, cat. no. 152]
Attributed to Antonio Pollaiuolo in the Payne Knight MS. Catalogue and by Waagen and evidently inspired by one of the 'Dioscuri' in front of the Quirinal Palace, this drawing is included by Berenson in the long list of works ascribed by him to Granacci. There seems, however, to be no reason to place it so late and a connection with Granacci's authentic drawings is not apparent. The attribution to Pesellino advanced in 'Critica d'arte' is closer to the mark, but the emphasis on contours so noticeable in this artist's work is here lacking. The author would appear to be some unidentified follower of Fra Filippo.
Literature: BB 986; Waagen, Treasures, i, 1854, p. 224; B.M. Guide, 1858, no. 7; H. Ulmann, Prussian Jahrbuch, xv (1894), p. 242, note 2; Van Marle, xi, p. 442; R(agghianti), Critica d'arte, V (1940) (Notizie e letture), p. iv.
- Location
- Not on display
- Exhibition history
-
1978 Apr-Jun, Smith College Museum, 'Antiquity in Renaissance', no. 47
1992 April-July, Florence, Uffizi, 'Il Disegno Fiorentino del tempo di Lorenzo il Magnifico', no. 1.1
2010 April-July, BM, 'Fra Angelico to Leonardo', no. 12
2011, March-June, Uffizi, Florence, 'Figure, Memorie, Spazio: Disegni da Fra'Angelico a Leonardo', no.12
2013 Mar-Aug, Florence, Palazzo Strozzi. 'Springtime of the Renaissance'
2013-14, Paris, Musée du Louvre, 'Springtime of the Renaissance'
2015 May-Jul, Washington, National Gallery of Art, 'Drawing in Silver and Gold'
2015 10 Sep-6 Dec, London, British Museum, 'Drawing in Silver and Gold'
2017 5-28 September, BM, G90a, The Age of Gozzoli
- Previous owner
-
Previous owner/ex-collection: François Fagel (T.Philipe, 29.v.1801/70 as Anonymous ' 'One of the statues and figures on the Monte Cavallo, by an ancient Master - silver point, on blue paper, heightened' bt Ottley)
-
Previous owner/ex-collection: William Young Ottley (T.Philipe, 13.iv.1804/ part of lot 315 as Antonio Pollaiuolo 'Two - ANTONIO POLLAIOLA - a horse rearing, and figures holding him, from the statue on the Monte Cavallo, metal point and Ind. ink, on blue prepared ground, heightened; and a study of naked figures, laying out a dead body, &c. pen and Ind. ink')
- Acquisition date
- 1824
- Acquisition notes
- Other drawing in Ottley sale is Pp.1.16
- Department
- Prints and Drawings
- Registration number
- Pp,1.18