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European white stork

Maker

(artist)
1589-1646

Formerly attributed to
(artist)

Title

Date of Production

(circa) 1620 - 1630

Medium

black chalk, watercolour and bodycolour with some gum arabic on laid paper, laid down on a historic mount

Dimensions

Height: 44.5 cm
Width: 34.5 cm

Accession Number

D.1952.RW.3218

Mode of Acquisition

Robert Clermont Witt, bequest, 1952

Credit

The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)

Copyright

Work in the public domain

Location

Not currently on display

Keywords

Label Text

Cassiano dal Pozzo (1588-1657), secretary to Cardinal Francesco Barberini and an internationally known scholar and collector, commissioned this drawing for his 'Paper Museum' of images representing a range of scientific subjects from animals to air pumps. Although he intended it to be a visual encyclopedia of the natural world, it was never published. One of the few sheets not held in the Royal Collection at Windsor, the Witt drawing shows the whole bird, while two others at Windsor show details of its parts.

Notes

Details of the head and legs of the same bird are on two sheets in Windsor, 28739 and 28740.

Provenance

Cassiano dal Pozzo, Rome and Florence (ca. 1588-1657); by descent to his brother Carlo Antonio dal Pozzo (d. 1689); by descent to his son Gabriele dal Pozzo, Rome (d. 1695); by descent to his son, Cosimo Antonio dal Pozzo, Rome (d. ca. 1739); acquired from him by Pope Clement XI, Rome (1649-1721); by descent to his cousin, Cardinal Alessandro Albani, Rome (1692-1779); acquired from him by James Adam on behalf of King George III, 1762 or 1763; by descent to King Edward VII (1841-1910); Paul Wengraf, Arcade Gallery (London); purchased there by Sir Robert Witt, London (1872-1952), L.2228b, 1942; Witt Bequest 1952

Exhibition History

The Witt Collection - Four centuries of drawings, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 03/04/2004-20/06/2004

The Paper Museum of Cassiano dal Pozzo (1588-1657), British Museum, London, 14/05/1993-30/08/1993

Literature

McBurney, Henrietta, 'Cassiano dal Pozzo as scientific commentator; ornithological texts, and images of birds from the Museo Cartaceo' in 'Documentary Culture: Florence and Rome from Grand-Duke Ferdinand I to Pope Alexander VII', Papers from a Colloquium held at the Johns Hopkins University (Villa Spelman), Florence, 1990 1992 - pp. 349-362
p. 360
fig. 4

Napoleone, Caterina, 'L' archivio del mondo: Cassiano dal Pozzo; il "Museo Cartaceo" di Cassiano dal Pozzo' in 'FMR: edizione italiana', 1993 - pp. 33-50; 98
p. 41

The Paper Museum of Cassiano dal Pozzo (1588-1657), British Museum, London, 1993
cat. no. 96
no. 96 on p. 164 ...More

I segreti di un collezionista: le straordinarie raccolte di Cassiano dal Pozzo 1588-1657, Palazzo Barberini, Rome, 2000
fig. 46

McBurney, Henrietta, Ian Rolfe, Caterina Napoleone and Paula Findlen, Birds, Animals and Other Curiosities, London/Royal Collection Trust in Association with Harvey Miller Publishers 2017 - 478; 2 vols: The Paper Museum of Cassiano dal Pozzo
no. 135
no. 135 on p. 345 ...Less

Inscriptions

Watermark: Watermark: none in the drawing sheet. Mount (historic): centre: “D&C BLAUW” (matches that in Heawood 3268, minus the "IV", with the countermark on D.1952.RW.3865 – England c. 1769).

Inscription: Recto: lower centre, brown ink: “172”. Mount (historic), Verso: upper left, graphite, Witt number: “3218”; lower left corner, graphite: “9”; lower right corner, graphite: “8”.

Collector's mark: Mount (historic), Recto: lower left corner, stamped in black: Sir Robert Witt (L.2228b).

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