Drawing Connoisseurship

Attraverso lo spoglio di fonti edite ed inedite, si è cercato di fare luce sulla raccolta grafica appartenuta all'antiquario ed editore di origine vicentina Pietro Stefanoni (1557ca.-1642 ca.), di cui l’unica testimonianza nota erano le parole di Cassiano dal Pozzo che ricordava un «libro de’ disegni» dall’antico costituito da fogli «d’esquisita bellezza». Conferme sono emerse da materiale archivistico e da testimonianze contemporanee che hanno permesso di risalire, da un lato, all’acquisto dello «studio» del canonico cremonese Pietro Antonio Tolentino e, dall’altro, di mettere a fuoco i successivi passaggi ereditari e le dinamiche di dispersione del prezioso materiale. Ma sono state le lettere e le postille del famoso conoscitore padre Sebastiano Resta a essersi rivelate – ancora una volta - strumenti fondamentali per l’identificazione di alcuni disegni appartenuti a Stefanoni nelle più importanti collezioni di grafica del mondo.

The paper investigates the graphic collection belonged to Pietro Stefanoni (1557ca. – 1642ca. ). If Cassiano dal Pozzo remembered a "book of drawing” from the Antique consisting of sheets "of exquisite beauty ", other evidences emerged from archival material and contemporary statements that allowed to track down the purchase of the "studio" of Pietro Antonio Tolentino, a clergyman of Cremona, and to focus on the inheritance and the way this precious material was dispersed. In the end, the letters and the annotations of the famous connoisseur Sebastiano Resta allowed to identify some drawings belonged to Stefanoni in the most important graphic collections in the world .

Four drawings with uncertain or erroneous attributions are presented here with their correct authorship. These consist of a study by the Flemish painter Pieter de Witt (Pietro Candido), preparatory for the "Adoration of the Shepherds" painted during his Tuscan period; a drawing — the first one proposed thus far — by the Roman Girolamo Nanni for the "Allegory of Promptness" frescoed in the apartment of Paul V Borghese in the Vatican; a double sheet by the Marchigian Filippo Bellini connected to his last work, the "Last Supper" in Macerata Cathedral; and a study by Pietro da Cortona’s follower Giuseppe Nicola Nasini (until now classified as the work of a Roman late Mannerist) for the "Council of Nicea and the Condemnation of the Arian Theses" frescoed in the Oratorio della Santissima Trinità in Siena in 1696.

For almost 200 years, the treasure trove of Italian drawings from the early 16th to the late 18th century presented for the first time in this catalogue slumbered unrecognised in the depots of the Tiroler Landesmuseen. Better-known graphic collections usually keep their works in passepartouts, on which there are sometimes short, sometimes cryptic notes in which art connoisseurs have left their suggestions for attribution. For the still unexplored Innsbruck collection, such a scholarly discourse, often carried out over decades on the passepartouts, was initiated in fast motion, as it were. The presentation of the collection links the mount notes received from experts from all over the world with the drawings presented to the public here for the first time. Visitors will gain an undisguised insight into the practice of connoisseurial judgement.

Nahezu 200 Jahre schlummerte der in diesem Band erstmals vorgestellte Kunstschatz italienischer Zeichnungen des frühen 16. bis späten 18. Jahrhunderts unerkannt in den Depots der Tiroler Landesmuseen. Bekanntere grafische Sammlungen bewahren ihre Werke meist aufgelegt in Passepartouts, auf denen sich mitunter kurze, bisweilen kryptisch anmutende Notizen finden, in denen Kunstkenner ihre Zuschreibungsvorschläge hinterlassen haben. Für den noch unerforschten Innsbrucker Bestand wurde ein solcher, oftmals über Jahrzehnte auf den Passepartouts ausgetragener Gelehrtendiskurs gewissermaßen im Zeitraffer angestoßen. Der vorliegende Band versammelt von Experten aus aller Welt eingegangene Passepartoutnotizen zu den hier erstmals der Öffentlichkeit übergebenen Zeichnungen. Die Leser erhalten einen unverstellten Einblick in die Praxis kennerschaftlicher Urteilsbildung.

The fragment of the correspondence between Sebastiano Resta and the Bolognese antiquarian Giuseppe Magnavacca, here analysed, provides new evidence on the famous graphic collection of Giovan Pietro Bellori and allows a better reconstruction of some of its aspects.
The letter here examined shows that at Bellori’s death many drawings passed into Resta’s hands thanks to the advice of Carlo Maratti. In addition, the letter testifies their common interest towards Correggio's activities. From different points of view, they both recognized his key role in the development of art history in modern times.

A small canvas by the Tuscan painter Antonio Cioci spotted at
auction in London prompts the author to bring to light an unpublished drawing by Guercino in the Kunstmuseum, Bern, reiterated as a print (also unpublished) by the Tuscan Sante Pacini, which is in turn compared to a caricature by Guercino in the Musée du Louvre.

Domenico Maria Fratta fut l’un des talentueux élèves de Donato Creti, peintre italien de l’école bolonaise. Les recherches récentes sur un grand nombre de dessins attribués jusqu’ici à Creti ont permis de cerner la part
à inscrire au catalogue du maître et celle revenant à ses élèves. Plusieurs feuilles peuplées de guerriers sont de la main de Fratta, en nuançant cependant certaines attributions, données ici à
un autre artiste, nommé le « Maître de Philippe » en raison du grand nombre de sujets guerriers macédoniens entrant dans ses compositions.

Com a finalidade de iniciar os alunos na investigação pericial visando seus três objetivos fundamentais, a autoria, a proveniência e a cronologia, a presente disciplina propõe a análise de obras de arte e esforços auxiliares na abordagem do estilo individual, o que permite delimitar a obra de uma mesma pessoa, além de suas relações estilísticas. Por não se restringir aos artistas e períodos mais celebrados, a peritagem faz existir uma pluralidade de autores, indicando suas parcerias e preceptivas, o que nem sempre é perceptível na documentação e na crítica de arte; a peritagem também permite datar com maior precisão, inclusive indicando as fases do desenvolvimento artístico de uma dada personalidade; e pode apontar o lugar de origem das obras, bem como a circulação de artistas, contribuindo para uma história social da arte mais inclusiva, para além de favorecer o desenvolvimento do olhar investigativo.