Giovanni Balducci, called Cosci (Florence circa 1560-after 1631 Naples)
The Pentecost (recto) and A Design for an Armorial Cartouche (verso)
Indistinctly Inscribed Verso
Red And Black Chalk, Pen And Brown Ink, Brown Wash (recto), Black Chalk, Pen And Brown Ink And Blue Wash, Within An Inscribed Cartouche (verso), Watermark Kneeling Saint Within A Shield
333 X 230 Mm. (13 X 9 1/8in.)
£11,000
Provenance :
Hubert Marignane (born 1921) (his Mark, Not In Lugt).
Private Collection, UK.
Balducci was trained by Giovanni Battista Naldini, who was in turn influenced by Vasari and late Florentine Mannerism. Between 1575 and 1579 Balducci collaborated with Federico Zuccaro on the frescoes of the Last Judgement in the dome of Florence Cathedral. Balducci enrolled at the ‘Accademia del Disegno’ in 1578. In 1577 and 1580 he worked with Naldini on the decoration of the Altoviti Chapel in Trinità dei Monti, Rome. On his return to Florence, he assisted Alessandro Allori in the decoration of the ceilings in the corridor of the Uffizi gallery. His work on the decoration of Florence Cathedral for the wedding of Ferdinand I de’ Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany, in 1589, includes the Last Supper. The Mystic Marriage of St. Catherine (San Gimignano, Sant'Agostino) dates from the same year. Balducci worked from 1588 to 1590, for Cardinal Alessandro de’ Medici, he painted one of his finest works, a cycle of scenes from the Life of Christ (Florence, Oratory of the Pretoni). While there are echoes of fifteenth-century classicism in the treatment of faces and in certain motifs, the painting has the simple devotional quality typical of Florentine art of this period, which was dominated by the influence of Santi di Tito. In 1590–1, again with Naldini, Balducci worked on the decoration of Volterra Cathedral, for example the Miracle of the Loaves and Fishes in the Serguidi Chapel. The Nativity (Volterra, San Francesco) is dated 1592. Balducci returned to Rome in the entourage of Cardinal Alessandro de’ Medici and is recorded there in 1594. Initially he worked at San Giovanni Decollato, Rome, painting frescoes and canvases (the Raising of Lazarus and St. John the Baptist Preaching). In 1594 Alessandro de’ Medici commissioned Balducci, Agostino Ciampelli and Girolamo Massei to paint scenes from the Passion in Santa Prassede. Shortly afterwards he painted frescoes, including St. John the Baptist Preaching, in San Giovanni dei Fiorentini, Rome. Balducci was in Naples from 1596, working on the redecoration of the tribune of the cathedral. Fragments of the ceiling frescoes he painted in 1600 for San Giovanni dei Fiorentini (destroyed), Naples, survive in the Museo di Capodimonte and in the rebuilt church. Also from this period are the Annunciation (1599; Piedimonte Matese, Santissima Annunziata) and the ceiling of Santissima Annunziata (1604; Caserta Santa Maria Maddalena). Other works in Naples include the frescoes in the cloister of Santa Maria del Carmine, site of probably his last surviving work, the portrait of Father Canale.
Our drawings has been connected to two pictures and various other drawings by Balducci. Patrick McGrady has connected the bottom left hand figure to a painting/ bozzetto in the Palmer Museum of Art at The Pennsylvania State University, which is dated shortly before 1586, 'Christ in Glory with Apostles and Saints'1. The final painting is in the church of Gesù Pellegrino, Florence. Our drawing is not a preparatory study for this painting, but they are clearly connected. The pose of the figures in our drawing and in the bozzetto and final painting are virtually identical, down to the way the left hand arm and hand is in this rather awkward mannerist grip. In addition to this painting by Balducci there is a drawing of ‘The Madonna surrounded by Apostles’ which was on the art market (Christie’s London, lot 19, 6 July 2004) which is also closely comparable to our drawing. The Madonna is both drawings are in a similar pose, almost exactly the same pose, but the book in our drawing is on the Virgin’s lap rather than on one knee as in the drawing at Christie’s. The latter drawing is also connected stylistically to several others at the Musée du Louvre2.
The arms of the verso armorial cartouche have not been connected to a particular patron, though further research may reveal this identity. The characteristic use of the blue wash is well known in drawings by Balducci, such as ‘Don Juan of Austria and Soldiers discussing plans for a Battle’, which is in turn part of a group of 11 drawings by Balducci bought by Sir Robert Witt3.
1.Written communication, 19 March 2009.
2.F. Viatte, Dessins Toscans, 1560-1640, Paris, 1988, numbers 32-34 and 37-41.
3.Sotheby’s New York, 28 January 1998, lot 75.
