DOMENICO CRESTI (1559-1638)

Pen and brown ink, with red chalk. Laid on paper.

118.00 mm wide   132.00 mm high

4.65 inches wide  5.20 inches high

Dr L. Pollak, his mark on the verso (Lugt 788b); F. Dubini, on the lower left hand corner (Lugt 987a); VLV non-identified mark on the verso of the mount.

Good

Passignano began his career in Florence, probably as a student of Girolamo Macchietti (1535-1592) who was a member of Giorgio Vasari’s circle. Soon after Federico Zuccaro’s arrival in Florence (1575), the artist joined his workshop and helped him complete the frescoes of the dome of the cathedral . After accompanying Zuccaro to Rome and Venice in the 1580’s , he subsequently settled back in Florence. However, Passignano was kept busy with commissions from Rome during the first three decades of the 17th century, thus creating a transition between the two centuries and providing an important connection between the two cities.

The present attribution was suggested by Nicholas Turner and is supported by the marked similarities in style, technique and format of composition to other drawings by Passignano. For instance, the same unusual quivering and atmospheric line is observed on a sheet in Munich with an identical technique in the vigorous poses as well as the crowding in the present drawing of The Arrest of Christ. In addition, echoes of similar facial expressions as well as the rhetorical poses and gestures of the figures can be found in two other drawings attributed to the draughtsman in the Uffizi, Florence as well as that of the Roman soldiers in a highly finished drawing of Battle Scene in the British Museum .

However, the purpose of the drawing is not known as no corresponding painting has been found and it is likely to simply be a compositional idea on a biblical theme. Here, the draughtsman does not depict the usual cutting off of Christ’s servant’s right the ear but only shows the figure of Simon Peter drawing his sword on the right hand of the scene . Furthermore, Il Passignano is credited for inventing a kind of model for the depictions of historical-narrative scenes . Indeed, evidence of this can be observed here through balancing reality and clever design with the artist transforming the prosaic representation of events into mythologizing narratives. To be sure, this analogy is strikingly evident in the approach to the subject matter in this sheet. Major holdings of Passignano’s graphic works are held by the Uffizi, Florence. His graphic work can also be found at the Farnesina, Rome; Museo di Capodimonte, Napoli; Metropolitan museum, NY as well as at the Albertina, Vienna (Inv. No 736).

gbp 2500.00 (Pound Sterling)

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