Francesco Ubertini, il Bachiacca
![Francesco Ubertini, il Bachiacca - Dipinti antichi Francesco Ubertini, il Bachiacca - Dipinti antichi](/fileadmin/lot-images/38A170425/normal/francesco-ubertini-gen-bachiacca-1095625.jpg)
(Florence 1494–1557)
The preaching of Saint John the Baptist,
oil on panel, 77.5 x 60 cm, framed
Provenance:
Solbiati collection, Busto Arsizio,Varese;
where purchased by the present owner
The painting represents Saint John the Baptist before a group of men and women. The Saint is shown wearing his characteristic fur clothing, standing at the centre of the composition, with a crowd of figures arranged around him in a circle. His right arm is raised as he preaches the word of Christ, while in his left hand he grips the staff with a cross, which is one his characteristic attributes. Among the attendant crowd are a group of men to his right with women and children to his left: some are turned towards the Baptist listening, whilst others are distracted by conversations of their own. The background is dominated by an imposing rocky outcrop overgrown with vegetation into which opens a cave framing the Baptist’s silhouette, and beyond, to his left, a vista opens out onto a mountainous landscape.
The compositional structure, the particularity of the individuals represented, the use of brilliant colours and the type of landscape all point to this work belonging to the artistic production of the Ubertini family, active in Florence during the sixteenth century. This family of artists consisted of three brothers who were the children of the goldsmith Francesco d’Ubertino Verdi; they were called Bachiacca after the eldest of the group Bartolomeo, called Baccio (1484-1526/1529), who was most likely a pupil first and then a collaborator of Pietro Perugino. It was probably through him that the most celebrated of the three brothers, Francesco (1494-1557), was also introduced into this studio around 1505. The youngest family member was Antonio (1499-1572) described by Vasari as an ‘eccellente ricamatore’ [‘excellent embroiderer’]. He was active at the Medici Court and was appreciated so much that he received prestigious commissions such as the execution, following the designs of his brother Francesco, of the bridal bed of Francesco, the son of Cosimo, and Johanna of Austria in 1565.
Around 1515, following his first apprenticeship in the studio of Perugino, Francesco Bachiacca gravitated towards the circle of Andrea del Sarto, with whom he collaborated on the famous decorations for the camera Borgherini and the anticamera Benintendi, alongside Francesco Granacci, Franciabigio and Pontormo. His activity, however, remained tied to that of his brother Baccio until the latter’s death, after which Francesco entered the service of the Medici, participating in the realisation of the ephemeral decorations for the marriage of Cosimo and Eleanor of Toledo; subsequently he introduced his brother Antonio to court. The pictorial production of Francesco is characterised by the use of numerous sources of inspiration: allusions and models that flow into highly original eclectic compositions, that are at times archaic, retaining a taste for the Quattrocento. References to the leading exponents of early Cinquecento Florentine painting, such as Raphael, Fra Bartolomeo, Mariotto Albertinelli, Franciabigio and Andrea del Sarto, as well as Leonardo and Michelangelo whose cartoons for the celebrated Battles he was able to study, conjoin in his works with references to Northern culture, mediated through his knowledge of engravings by Albrecht Dürer and Lucas van Leyden.
Many such sources, which were especially appreciated by the intellectual elite of the era, are recognisable in this apparently previously unpublished Saint John the Baptist preaching presented here. This subject was treated at least once by Francesco, now in the Fine Arts Museum, Budapest (see R. G. La France, Bachiacca. Artist of the Medici Court, Florence 2008, p.158, no. 20, fig. 9), which is of horizontal format and more compositionally articulated, and the another in a private collection, attributed to the Verdi workshop (see R. G. La France, ibid., 2008, p. 298, no.151, fig. 96).
The present work reveals the typical working methods employed in the Bachiacca workshop: the use of cartoons to re-present the same elements in different works, and on occasion even the application of the contrapposto technique of Peruginesque origin. Indeed, the two seated male figures in the left foreground repeat those represented in the same position in the panel of the Legend of the Dead King, Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Dresden (see R. G. La France, ibid., 2008, p.176, no.32, pl. XX), part of the Benintendi cycle. In the present work the younger figure of the two is identical to the Dresden painting, except for the colour of his robes and hat, and the fact that he is holding a book instead of a parchment. The figure beside him only differs from that in the Dresden painting by having a longer beard and minor alterations of detail to his dress. The first figure, moreover, reappears with minor changes in the Gathering of Manna in the National Gallery, Washington (see R. G. La France, ibid., 2008, p. 216, no. 62, pl. XLIX).
Technical analysis
A technical examination confirms that the present painting is very well preserved and of a high quality. IR reflectography reveals the refined quality of the underdrawing in many areas, which was made with a sharp black substance tool (probably black chalk). On one side of the painting there is an accurate detailed outline drawing with delicate thin hatching, under some figures and some details of the landscape. The hatching is denser in the deeper shadows and the clothes, while it becomes sparser in the half-shadows and particularly under the landscape.
These characteristics of the underdrawing can be compared to many of Bachiacca’s drawings on paper, some of which were also made with black chalk. They demonstrate the same way of hatching in various directions, the same fluidity in the depiction of some clothes and the same insistence on emphasising details such as the hands and sometimes the faces. This approach can be seen in his drawings in the Pierpont Morgan Library and the Uffizi.
In some of the figures in the painting we find traces of pouncing or sometimes a trembling contour underdrawing, which suggests the use of a pouncing made with close points. This can be seen under the red mantle of the seated man on the left: the cartoon for this figure, and for the man close to him, is probably the same that was used for the men to the left of the composition in Legend of the Dead King (Gemäldegalerie, Dresden). The figure dressed in a yellow cloak in this picture has dimensions that can be compared to the present figure.
The use of pouncing in Bachiacca’s drawings is documented, for example, in the sheet of the Mucius Scaevola in the British Museum. The colour palette is organised around cold hues, which are dominated by the azurite blue mineral used in the sky, the landscape and the variety of blue and violet clothes. The azurite blue mineral is also added to lead white and ochre to obtain the greyish tone of the rocks.
Chromatically, the painting is similar to the abovementioned Legend of the Dead King and to some parts of the Baptism of Christ (Gemäldegalerie, Berlin). Other pigments include verdigris (also mixed with yellow), lead-based yellow, vermillion, ochre and both types of red lake: carmine and madder. The first of these is mixed with azurite to make the violet colours and the pink-red cloak of Saint John, the latter of these was used in the cloak of the man to the left and in the red cap of the woman on the right.
We are grateful to Gianluca Poldi for the technical examination.
25.04.2017 - 18:00
- Prezzo realizzato: **
-
EUR 295.800,-
- Stima:
-
EUR 100.000,- a EUR 150.000,-
Francesco Ubertini, il Bachiacca
(Florence 1494–1557)
The preaching of Saint John the Baptist,
oil on panel, 77.5 x 60 cm, framed
Provenance:
Solbiati collection, Busto Arsizio,Varese;
where purchased by the present owner
The painting represents Saint John the Baptist before a group of men and women. The Saint is shown wearing his characteristic fur clothing, standing at the centre of the composition, with a crowd of figures arranged around him in a circle. His right arm is raised as he preaches the word of Christ, while in his left hand he grips the staff with a cross, which is one his characteristic attributes. Among the attendant crowd are a group of men to his right with women and children to his left: some are turned towards the Baptist listening, whilst others are distracted by conversations of their own. The background is dominated by an imposing rocky outcrop overgrown with vegetation into which opens a cave framing the Baptist’s silhouette, and beyond, to his left, a vista opens out onto a mountainous landscape.
The compositional structure, the particularity of the individuals represented, the use of brilliant colours and the type of landscape all point to this work belonging to the artistic production of the Ubertini family, active in Florence during the sixteenth century. This family of artists consisted of three brothers who were the children of the goldsmith Francesco d’Ubertino Verdi; they were called Bachiacca after the eldest of the group Bartolomeo, called Baccio (1484-1526/1529), who was most likely a pupil first and then a collaborator of Pietro Perugino. It was probably through him that the most celebrated of the three brothers, Francesco (1494-1557), was also introduced into this studio around 1505. The youngest family member was Antonio (1499-1572) described by Vasari as an ‘eccellente ricamatore’ [‘excellent embroiderer’]. He was active at the Medici Court and was appreciated so much that he received prestigious commissions such as the execution, following the designs of his brother Francesco, of the bridal bed of Francesco, the son of Cosimo, and Johanna of Austria in 1565.
Around 1515, following his first apprenticeship in the studio of Perugino, Francesco Bachiacca gravitated towards the circle of Andrea del Sarto, with whom he collaborated on the famous decorations for the camera Borgherini and the anticamera Benintendi, alongside Francesco Granacci, Franciabigio and Pontormo. His activity, however, remained tied to that of his brother Baccio until the latter’s death, after which Francesco entered the service of the Medici, participating in the realisation of the ephemeral decorations for the marriage of Cosimo and Eleanor of Toledo; subsequently he introduced his brother Antonio to court. The pictorial production of Francesco is characterised by the use of numerous sources of inspiration: allusions and models that flow into highly original eclectic compositions, that are at times archaic, retaining a taste for the Quattrocento. References to the leading exponents of early Cinquecento Florentine painting, such as Raphael, Fra Bartolomeo, Mariotto Albertinelli, Franciabigio and Andrea del Sarto, as well as Leonardo and Michelangelo whose cartoons for the celebrated Battles he was able to study, conjoin in his works with references to Northern culture, mediated through his knowledge of engravings by Albrecht Dürer and Lucas van Leyden.
Many such sources, which were especially appreciated by the intellectual elite of the era, are recognisable in this apparently previously unpublished Saint John the Baptist preaching presented here. This subject was treated at least once by Francesco, now in the Fine Arts Museum, Budapest (see R. G. La France, Bachiacca. Artist of the Medici Court, Florence 2008, p.158, no. 20, fig. 9), which is of horizontal format and more compositionally articulated, and the another in a private collection, attributed to the Verdi workshop (see R. G. La France, ibid., 2008, p. 298, no.151, fig. 96).
The present work reveals the typical working methods employed in the Bachiacca workshop: the use of cartoons to re-present the same elements in different works, and on occasion even the application of the contrapposto technique of Peruginesque origin. Indeed, the two seated male figures in the left foreground repeat those represented in the same position in the panel of the Legend of the Dead King, Gemäldegalerie Alte Meister, Dresden (see R. G. La France, ibid., 2008, p.176, no.32, pl. XX), part of the Benintendi cycle. In the present work the younger figure of the two is identical to the Dresden painting, except for the colour of his robes and hat, and the fact that he is holding a book instead of a parchment. The figure beside him only differs from that in the Dresden painting by having a longer beard and minor alterations of detail to his dress. The first figure, moreover, reappears with minor changes in the Gathering of Manna in the National Gallery, Washington (see R. G. La France, ibid., 2008, p. 216, no. 62, pl. XLIX).
Technical analysis
A technical examination confirms that the present painting is very well preserved and of a high quality. IR reflectography reveals the refined quality of the underdrawing in many areas, which was made with a sharp black substance tool (probably black chalk). On one side of the painting there is an accurate detailed outline drawing with delicate thin hatching, under some figures and some details of the landscape. The hatching is denser in the deeper shadows and the clothes, while it becomes sparser in the half-shadows and particularly under the landscape.
These characteristics of the underdrawing can be compared to many of Bachiacca’s drawings on paper, some of which were also made with black chalk. They demonstrate the same way of hatching in various directions, the same fluidity in the depiction of some clothes and the same insistence on emphasising details such as the hands and sometimes the faces. This approach can be seen in his drawings in the Pierpont Morgan Library and the Uffizi.
In some of the figures in the painting we find traces of pouncing or sometimes a trembling contour underdrawing, which suggests the use of a pouncing made with close points. This can be seen under the red mantle of the seated man on the left: the cartoon for this figure, and for the man close to him, is probably the same that was used for the men to the left of the composition in Legend of the Dead King (Gemäldegalerie, Dresden). The figure dressed in a yellow cloak in this picture has dimensions that can be compared to the present figure.
The use of pouncing in Bachiacca’s drawings is documented, for example, in the sheet of the Mucius Scaevola in the British Museum. The colour palette is organised around cold hues, which are dominated by the azurite blue mineral used in the sky, the landscape and the variety of blue and violet clothes. The azurite blue mineral is also added to lead white and ochre to obtain the greyish tone of the rocks.
Chromatically, the painting is similar to the abovementioned Legend of the Dead King and to some parts of the Baptism of Christ (Gemäldegalerie, Berlin). Other pigments include verdigris (also mixed with yellow), lead-based yellow, vermillion, ochre and both types of red lake: carmine and madder. The first of these is mixed with azurite to make the violet colours and the pink-red cloak of Saint John, the latter of these was used in the cloak of the man to the left and in the red cap of the woman on the right.
We are grateful to Gianluca Poldi for the technical examination.
Hotline dell'acquirente
lun-ven: 10.00 - 17.00
old.masters@dorotheum.at +43 1 515 60 403 |
Asta: | Dipinti antichi |
Tipo d'asta: | Asta in sala |
Data: | 25.04.2017 - 18:00 |
Luogo dell'asta: | Vienna | Palais Dorotheum |
Esposizione: | 15.04. - 25.04.2017 |
** Prezzo d’acquisto comprensivo dei diritti d’asta acquirente e IVA
Non è più possibile effettuare un ordine di acquisto su Internet. L'asta è in preparazione o è già stata eseguita.