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Two decorative initials ('N' and 'C')

Maker

Teodoro della Porta (artist)
1567-1638

Title

Medium

black chalk, pen and brown ink with brown ink framing lines on laid paper, set in a historic border

Dimensions

Height: 11.2 cm
Width: 21.2 cm

Accession Number

D.1952.RW.405

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

inhabited initials

Label Text

These designs for the letters ‘N’ and ‘C’ testify to the enduring popularity of decorative elements in books, long after the invention of the printing press. Possibly intended as designs for engraving, the letters are formed from the classical motif of acanthus leaves. Further intricate elements include female nude and clothed figures on the ‘N’ and a bird attacking a snake on the upper part of the ‘C’.

Notes

A similar ornamental initial with similar inscription is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, there also given to Teodoro della Porta (inv. no. 1972.135).

Provenance

William Amhurst Tyssen-Amherst, 1st Baron Amherst of Hackney (1835-1909); by descent to his wife, Margaret Susan Mitford (1835-1919); her estate sale, London, Sotheby's, 14 December 1921, lot 36 (with nine others, including D.1952.RW.402 and 403); purchased there by Sir Robert Witt, London (1872-1952) (5 shillings); Witt Bequest 1952; stolen in 1969 and acquired in good faith by the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1972; returned to The Courtauld, 1972

Exhibition History

Special Display - Renaissance drawings, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 29/01/2009-20/05/2009

Drawings recently acquired 1969-1971, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 18/01/1972-16/04/1972

Decorative Arts of the Italian Renaissance 1400-1600, Detroit Institute of Art, Detroit, USA, 18/11/1958-04/01/1959

Literature

Drawings recently acquired 1969-1971, Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1972
cat. no. 41

Inscriptions

Watermark: Watermark: none.

Inscription: Recto: lower left, brown ink, artist's hand?: “C: Teod:o della Porta”. Verso: lower right, graphite, first line crossed out: “D31512 / D211 //”.

Collector's mark: none.

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