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ITALIAN DRAWINGS
ITALIAN DRAWINGS
New Discoveries
Explore a selection of the Ashmolean’s exceptional holdings of drawings by Italian artists and discover how and why they were made, as well as how we conduct research on them today.
Continue
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ITALIAN DRAWINGS
Meet the curator
I am Dr Rachel Boyd, the Ashmolean’s Getty Paper Project Research Fellow. To hear me introduce my research, click on the play button to the right, or click here for a transcript of the video's audio. (Duration: 57s)
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ITALIAN DRAWINGS
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The Business of Art
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New Attributions
Materials & Techniques
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ITALIAN DRAWINGS
1/4
Study of a nude youth with arms raised, 1618-1621 Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, known as Guercino (1591–1666)
This beautiful black chalk drawing vividly evokes its origins in Guercino’s workshop. Early in his career, Guercino established an informal art academy in his hometown of Cento, near Bologna in northern Italy. This is precisely the type of drawing from the life that he made as an example for his students. Guercino was committed to building his own artistic skills by studying after the posed model, a young man with his arms raised. This is a practice that remains central to art instruction today. Particularly challenging here is the pose of the model’s head, which Guercino captured with expert foreshortening.
Materials & Techniques
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ITALIAN DRAWINGS
2/4
Hear more about this study
To find out more about this study by Guercino, and how I determine how a drawing like this is made, click on the play button to the right, or click here for a transcript of the audio. (Duration: 50s)
Materials & Techniques
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ITALIAN DRAWINGS
3/4
Materials used by Guercino
Hear me talk about materials used by Guercino by clicking on the play button below, or click here for a transcript of the audio. (Duration: 1m 14s)
Materials & Techniques
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ITALIAN DRAWINGS
4/4
See them up close in the Print Room
Did you know that you can see original Italian drawings up close by visiting our Western Art Print Room? Admission is free but booking is currently essential. Find out more on our website ashmolean.org
Materials & Techniques
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ITALIAN DRAWINGS
I hope you enjoyed learning more about materials and techniques.
Choose another theme to keep exploring
or return to the main menu using the button above.
The Business of Art
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ITALIAN DRAWINGS
1/6
Jael shows Barak the corpse of Sisera, c. 1619–20 Guercino (1591–1666)
This is one of Guercino’s studies for a painting of a violent subject taken from the Old Testament (Judges 4:17–22 and 5:24–31). Sisera, the commander of the Canaanite army, lies in the foreground, his dead body marked with the instrument of his murder. Jael, the woman pointing to the corpse, killed Sisera in his sleep by hammering a tent peg into his head. Here, she reveals her action to Barak, the leader of the Israelites.
Collectors & Collections
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ITALIAN DRAWINGS
2/6
Tracing the life of an object
Hear me talk about the story of this artwork by clicking on the play button below, or click here for a transcript of the audio. (Duration: 1m 9s)
Collectors & Collections
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ITALIAN DRAWINGS
3/6
Barak finds Jael with the corpse of Sisera, c. 1619–20 Guercino (1591–1666)
This is an alternative design by Guercino for the same painting of Jael and Sisera. It also uses a Casa Gennari mount.
Collectors & Collections
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ITALIAN DRAWINGS
4/6
Casa Gennari mounts on Guercino's drawings
To watch a video in which I speak about these two designs by Guercino, and the similar mounts, click on the play button to the right, or click here to read a transcript. (Duration: 51s)
Slide 19 of 22
Collectors & Collections
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ITALIAN DRAWINGS
5/6
Sir Denis Mahon (1910–2011)
To hear me talk about Sir Denis Mahon, click on the play button below, or click here for a transcript of the audio. (Duration: 53s)
Collectors & Collections
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ITALIAN DRAWINGS
6/6
See them up close in the Print Room
Did you know that you can see original Italian drawings up close by visiting our Western Art Print Room? Admission is free but booking is currently essential. Find out more on our website ashmolean.org
Collectors & Collections
return to main Menu
ITALIAN DRAWINGS
I hope you enjoyed learning more about collectors and collections.
Choose another theme to keep exploring
or return to the main menu using the button above.
The Business of Art
Materials & Techniques
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The Business of Art
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ITALIAN DRAWINGS
1/8
The Business of Making Art
Hear me talk about the design on the right, click on the play button below, or click here for a transcript of the audio. (Duration: 46s)
The Business of Art
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ITALIAN DRAWINGS
2/8
Design and contract for a tondo of the Virgin and Child, 1524 Marco (Fra Mattia) della Robbia
In the first line of this contract we can see the date and the name of the artist, ‘Fra Mattia, son of Andrea, of Florence’. This is the Florentine sculptor Marco della Robbia, a son of Andrea della Robbia, who was known as ‘Fra Mattia’ because he was a Dominican friar.
The Business of Art
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ITALIAN DRAWINGS
3/8
Fra Mattia and his father and brothers specialized in a distinctive form of glazed terracotta sculpture. We must imagine, then, that the surface of the finished roundel would have been covered with bright, reflective glazes – in fact, the contract specifies ‘good and fine and satisfactory colours’.
The Business of Art
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ITALIAN DRAWINGS
4/8
Virgin and Child, late 15th century Marco (Fra Mattia) della Robbia
Unfortunately, the sculpture does not survive. It is possible that it was never finished. This work by the Della Robbia family workshop, and one on the next page, give us a sense of what the roundel might have looked like.
The Business of Art
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ITALIAN DRAWINGS
5/8
Madonna adoring the Child c. 1495 Marco (Fra Mattia) della Robbia
Sculpted in clay, the works were fired in a kiln and then covered in ceramic glazes, then fired a second time. The frames were usually made separately, in interlocking segments, and then assembled on site.
The Business of Art
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ITALIAN DRAWINGS
6/8
More about artist and patron
To hear me talk about the other side of the sheet, click on the play button below, or click here for a transcript of the audio. (Duration: 1m 18s)
The Business of Art
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ITALIAN DRAWINGS
7/8
Both sides of the contract
To hear me talk more about both sides of the sheet, click on the play button below, or click here for a transcript of the audio. (Duration: 53s)
The Business of Art
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ITALIAN DRAWINGS
8/8
See them up close in the Print Room
Did you know that you can see this original work by Marco della Robbia up close by visiting our Western Art Print Room? Admission is free but booking is currently essential. Find out more on our website ashmolean.org
The Business of Art
return to main Menu
ITALIAN DRAWINGS
I hope you enjoyed learning more about the business of art.
Choose another theme to keep exploring
or return to the main menu using the button above.
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New Attributions
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ITALIAN DRAWINGS
1/4
The Assumption of the Virgin Workshop of Guglielmo Caccia (1568–1625), possibly Orsola Maddalena Caccia (1596-1676)
One of the most exciting elements of curatorial research is making discoveries about the authorship of a work of art.
Slide 19 of 22
New Attributions
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ITALIAN DRAWINGS
2/4
New Discoveries
To learn about the new identity of the drawing on the previous page – and its possible connection to a 17th-century female artist – click on the play button to the right, or click here to read a transcript. (Duration: 1m 29s)
Slide 19 of 22
New Attributions
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ITALIAN DRAWINGS
3/4
Orsola Maddalena Caccia
Hear me talk more about nun and painter Orsola Maddalena Caccia, click on the play button below, or click here for a transcript of the audio. (Duration: 1m)
New Attributions
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ITALIAN DRAWINGS
4/4
See them up close in the Print Room
Did you know that you can see original Italian drawings up close by visiting our Western Art Print Room? Admission is free but booking is currently essential. Find out more on our website ashmolean.org
New Attributions
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ITALIAN DRAWINGS
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or return to the main menu using the button above.
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Transcript
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ITALIAN DRAWINGS
ITALIAN DRAWINGS
New Discoveries
Explore a selection of the Ashmolean’s exceptional holdings of drawings by Italian artists and discover how and why they were made, as well as how we conduct research on them today.
Continue
return to main Menu
ITALIAN DRAWINGS
Meet the curator
I am Dr Rachel Boyd, the Ashmolean’s Getty Paper Project Research Fellow. To hear me introduce my research, click on the play button to the right, or click here for a transcript of the video's audio. (Duration: 57s)
Continue
Back
return to main Menu
ITALIAN DRAWINGS
Please choose an theme to start exploring
or return to the main menu using the button above.
The Business of Art
Collectors & Collections
Materials & Techniques
New Attributions
Materials & Techniques
return to main Menu
ITALIAN DRAWINGS
1/4
Study of a nude youth with arms raised, 1618-1621 Giovanni Francesco Barbieri, known as Guercino (1591–1666)
This beautiful black chalk drawing vividly evokes its origins in Guercino’s workshop. Early in his career, Guercino established an informal art academy in his hometown of Cento, near Bologna in northern Italy. This is precisely the type of drawing from the life that he made as an example for his students. Guercino was committed to building his own artistic skills by studying after the posed model, a young man with his arms raised. This is a practice that remains central to art instruction today. Particularly challenging here is the pose of the model’s head, which Guercino captured with expert foreshortening.
Materials & Techniques
return to main Menu
ITALIAN DRAWINGS
2/4
Hear more about this study
To find out more about this study by Guercino, and how I determine how a drawing like this is made, click on the play button to the right, or click here for a transcript of the audio. (Duration: 50s)
Materials & Techniques
return to main Menu
ITALIAN DRAWINGS
3/4
Materials used by Guercino
Hear me talk about materials used by Guercino by clicking on the play button below, or click here for a transcript of the audio. (Duration: 1m 14s)
Materials & Techniques
return to main Menu
ITALIAN DRAWINGS
4/4
See them up close in the Print Room
Did you know that you can see original Italian drawings up close by visiting our Western Art Print Room? Admission is free but booking is currently essential. Find out more on our website ashmolean.org
Materials & Techniques
return to main Menu
ITALIAN DRAWINGS
I hope you enjoyed learning more about materials and techniques.
Choose another theme to keep exploring
or return to the main menu using the button above.
The Business of Art
Collectors & Collections
New Attributions
Collectors & Collections
return to main Menu
ITALIAN DRAWINGS
1/6
Jael shows Barak the corpse of Sisera, c. 1619–20 Guercino (1591–1666)
This is one of Guercino’s studies for a painting of a violent subject taken from the Old Testament (Judges 4:17–22 and 5:24–31). Sisera, the commander of the Canaanite army, lies in the foreground, his dead body marked with the instrument of his murder. Jael, the woman pointing to the corpse, killed Sisera in his sleep by hammering a tent peg into his head. Here, she reveals her action to Barak, the leader of the Israelites.
Collectors & Collections
return to main Menu
ITALIAN DRAWINGS
2/6
Tracing the life of an object
Hear me talk about the story of this artwork by clicking on the play button below, or click here for a transcript of the audio. (Duration: 1m 9s)
Collectors & Collections
return to main Menu
ITALIAN DRAWINGS
3/6
Barak finds Jael with the corpse of Sisera, c. 1619–20 Guercino (1591–1666)
This is an alternative design by Guercino for the same painting of Jael and Sisera. It also uses a Casa Gennari mount.
Collectors & Collections
return to main Menu
ITALIAN DRAWINGS
4/6
Casa Gennari mounts on Guercino's drawings
To watch a video in which I speak about these two designs by Guercino, and the similar mounts, click on the play button to the right, or click here to read a transcript. (Duration: 51s)
Slide 19 of 22
Collectors & Collections
return to main Menu
ITALIAN DRAWINGS
5/6
Sir Denis Mahon (1910–2011)
To hear me talk about Sir Denis Mahon, click on the play button below, or click here for a transcript of the audio. (Duration: 53s)
Collectors & Collections
return to main Menu
ITALIAN DRAWINGS
6/6
See them up close in the Print Room
Did you know that you can see original Italian drawings up close by visiting our Western Art Print Room? Admission is free but booking is currently essential. Find out more on our website ashmolean.org
Collectors & Collections
return to main Menu
ITALIAN DRAWINGS
I hope you enjoyed learning more about collectors and collections.
Choose another theme to keep exploring
or return to the main menu using the button above.
The Business of Art
Materials & Techniques
New Attributions
The Business of Art
return to main Menu
ITALIAN DRAWINGS
1/8
The Business of Making Art
Hear me talk about the design on the right, click on the play button below, or click here for a transcript of the audio. (Duration: 46s)
The Business of Art
return to main Menu
ITALIAN DRAWINGS
2/8
Design and contract for a tondo of the Virgin and Child, 1524 Marco (Fra Mattia) della Robbia
In the first line of this contract we can see the date and the name of the artist, ‘Fra Mattia, son of Andrea, of Florence’. This is the Florentine sculptor Marco della Robbia, a son of Andrea della Robbia, who was known as ‘Fra Mattia’ because he was a Dominican friar.
The Business of Art
return to main Menu
ITALIAN DRAWINGS
3/8
Fra Mattia and his father and brothers specialized in a distinctive form of glazed terracotta sculpture. We must imagine, then, that the surface of the finished roundel would have been covered with bright, reflective glazes – in fact, the contract specifies ‘good and fine and satisfactory colours’.
The Business of Art
return to main Menu
ITALIAN DRAWINGS
4/8
Virgin and Child, late 15th century Marco (Fra Mattia) della Robbia
Unfortunately, the sculpture does not survive. It is possible that it was never finished. This work by the Della Robbia family workshop, and one on the next page, give us a sense of what the roundel might have looked like.
The Business of Art
return to main Menu
ITALIAN DRAWINGS
5/8
Madonna adoring the Child c. 1495 Marco (Fra Mattia) della Robbia
Sculpted in clay, the works were fired in a kiln and then covered in ceramic glazes, then fired a second time. The frames were usually made separately, in interlocking segments, and then assembled on site.
The Business of Art
return to main Menu
ITALIAN DRAWINGS
6/8
More about artist and patron
To hear me talk about the other side of the sheet, click on the play button below, or click here for a transcript of the audio. (Duration: 1m 18s)
The Business of Art
return to main Menu
ITALIAN DRAWINGS
7/8
Both sides of the contract
To hear me talk more about both sides of the sheet, click on the play button below, or click here for a transcript of the audio. (Duration: 53s)
The Business of Art
return to main Menu
ITALIAN DRAWINGS
8/8
See them up close in the Print Room
Did you know that you can see this original work by Marco della Robbia up close by visiting our Western Art Print Room? Admission is free but booking is currently essential. Find out more on our website ashmolean.org
The Business of Art
return to main Menu
ITALIAN DRAWINGS
I hope you enjoyed learning more about the business of art.
Choose another theme to keep exploring
or return to the main menu using the button above.
Collectors & Collections
Materials & Techniques
New Attributions
New Attributions
return to main Menu
ITALIAN DRAWINGS
1/4
The Assumption of the Virgin Workshop of Guglielmo Caccia (1568–1625), possibly Orsola Maddalena Caccia (1596-1676)
One of the most exciting elements of curatorial research is making discoveries about the authorship of a work of art.
Slide 19 of 22
New Attributions
return to main Menu
ITALIAN DRAWINGS
2/4
New Discoveries
To learn about the new identity of the drawing on the previous page – and its possible connection to a 17th-century female artist – click on the play button to the right, or click here to read a transcript. (Duration: 1m 29s)
Slide 19 of 22
New Attributions
return to main Menu
ITALIAN DRAWINGS
3/4
Orsola Maddalena Caccia
Hear me talk more about nun and painter Orsola Maddalena Caccia, click on the play button below, or click here for a transcript of the audio. (Duration: 1m)
New Attributions
return to main Menu
ITALIAN DRAWINGS
4/4
See them up close in the Print Room
Did you know that you can see original Italian drawings up close by visiting our Western Art Print Room? Admission is free but booking is currently essential. Find out more on our website ashmolean.org
New Attributions
return to main Menu
ITALIAN DRAWINGS
I hope you enjoyed learning more about new attributions.
Choose another theme to keep exploring
or return to the main menu using the button above.
Collectors & Collections
Materials & Techniques
The Business of Art