(Cremona 1501-1546)
Study of a female martyr (recto), a male torso in in armour (on the reverse), red chalk on laid paper, 24,2 x 12 cm, in an old mount fixed to support, mounted, framed, (Sch)

Provenance:
Private collection, Italy.

With a certificate of Prof. Marco Tanzi, 24th February 2021 (in copy)

The present drawing in red chalk is a typical example of the graphic style of the Crmeonese painter Camillo Boccaccino (1504/05-1546). He was a representative of Mannerism in Valpadena and belonged to the best draughtsmen of his generation. His work shows a remarkable quality and technical variety (siehe: Attorno agli amori. Camillo Boccaccino sacro e profano, Brera a occhi aperti, Sesto Dialogo, exh. Cat. Milan, Pinacoteca di Brera, 29th March – 1st July 2018, ed. by E. Daffra, M. Tanzi, Milan 2018). His drawing style was frequently confused with sheets by better known artist such as Andrea Schiavone (ca. 1510-1563) and Parmigianino (1503-1540). The depiction of a female martyr on the recto of the present sheet shows particularly clearly the influence of Parmigianino; especially the fresco “The Three Wise Virgins” and “The Three Foolish Virgins”, which Parmigianino had painted in the vaults of the presbytery in the basilica Santa Maria della Steccata in Parma were exemplary for Boccaccino.

Numerous red chalk drawings by Boccaccino have survived which are all technically and stylistically comparable with the present sheet. The delicate depiction of the elegant and elongated female figures can be also found in the small freso panels in the Lady’s Chapel in San Sigismondo in Cremona. Further comparisons can be found in a study for „Madonna with Child and St. John the Baptist“ (Inv. 1863,0509.938) and in a sheet with „Head studies“ (Inv. 1905,1110.10) in the British Museum in London; several other comparable drawings are preserved in the Musée du Louvre in Paris, including a “Female half figure in three-quarter profile” (Inv. 6645) and in „Studies for a female figure and a large male head” (Inv. 11822). The face of the female saint shows analogies with a drawing „Four head studies in profile” in black chalk which is preserved in the Uffizi in Florence (Inv. 13613 F). A drawing in black chalk which is a study for the “Holy Family” and is kept in the Biblioteca Ambrosiana in Milan (Cod F 271 Inf. n. 69) and another one with the “Marriage of the Virgin” in the Staatliche Graphische Collection, Munich (Inv. 3087) are comparable with the present sheet as well. The verso of the present sheet shows similarities with a drawing in the Pinacoteca di Brera (Inv. Dis. 676) which shows Charles V. as an old man who is about to burn his weapons. The examples given here list only a few examples in the most significant public collections which undoubtedly confirm the particular quality as well as the attribution of the present study.

The present drawing thus represents a particular example of the draughtmanship of Camillo Boccaccino; the sheet is datable to the 1540s, when the artist engaged in the style and poetry of Parmigianino’s works.

We are grateful to Prof. Marco Tanzi for confirming the attribution and for the scientific support.