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Sacking of a temple

Maker

(artist)
1510-1563

Formerly attributed to
(artist)
1511-1574

Title

Sacking of a temple

Medium

black chalk, pen and brown ink, brown wash, white bodycolour on blue laid paper, with incised lines, laid down on Japanese tissue (two types of bodycolour were used, one which has oxidised and turned grey, one which is thicker and with a glittery sheen, perhaps having added gum; blue paper is variegated, made up of fibres dyed with indigotin)

Dimensions

Height: 24.3 cm
Width: 29.8 cm

Accession Number

D.1952.RW.412

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

Destruction & pillage

Label Text

Francesco Salviati, along with his fellow Florentine Giorgio Vasari (1511–1574), was one of the first outsiders to adopt blue paper into his practice after working in Venice. He used two different types of white heightening here, one of which has now turned grey. The ink lines are incised, suggesting the composition was transferred to a printing plate, though no engraving is known. Perhaps the use of blue paper and white heightening was intended to suggest a certain tone to the printmaker.

Provenance

William Mayor, London (1826-1874), L.2799 [listed in his 1871 collection catalogue as 'Destruction of a Temple', not evident in the catalogue of his estate sale in 1882]; Charles Fairfax Murray, London (1849-1919); his estate sale, Christie's (London), 30 January 1920, lot 238 (as by Vasari, with 10 other drawings); purchased there by James Rimell & Son (London), for £29.4 for all 11; purchased there by Sir Robert Witt, London (1872-1952), L.2228b, n.d. for £1.85; Witt Bequest, 1952

Exhibition History

Drawn to Blue: Artists' use of Blue Paper, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 04/10/2024-26/01/2025

Literature

Catherine Monbeig Goguel, Maestri Toscani del cinquecento, 2 vols., Florence, 1979
vol. I, no. 20
vol. II, ill.
as The sack of a town by Salviati; photocopy in file; dates the drawing c. 1540 based on comparison to 2 tapestry border designs at the Louvre (INV 606 and INV 11122) and suggests this sheet was also a tapestry design due to the 'highly decorative qualities' of the composition

Mayor, William, A brief Chronological Description of a collection of Original Drawings and Sketches by the most celebrated Masters, London 1871
no. 116
by Vasari, titled 'Destruction of the Temple'

Inscriptions

Watermark: none.

Inscription: Verso (on Japanese tissue): lower centre, graphite: “15”; lower right corner, graphite, hard to read (written under L.2228b): “m/un / […] / 2/10/-”.

Collector's mark: Recto: lower left corner, stamped in black ink: William Mayor (L.2799). Verso (on Japanese tissue): lower right corner, stamped in black ink: Sir Robert Witt (L.2228b).

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