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Banquet of Cleopatra

Maker

(artist)
1535-1607

Title

Banquet of Cleopatra

Date of Production

1570 - 1571

Medium

black chalk, pen and brown ink, brown wash, white bodycolour (now discoloured in areas) on buff laid paper, squared in black chalk, cut into an oval and laid down, the top cut away and made up

Dimensions

Height: 44.3 cm
Width: 30.7 cm

Accession Number

D.1963.WF.4728

Mode of Acquisition

Witt Fund, purchase, 1963 (June)

Credit

The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)

Copyright

Work in the public domain

Location

Not currently on display

Keywords






Label Text

Squared for transfer and enlargement, this composition is a study for one of the oval-shaped paintings decorating the studiolo (study room) of Francesco de’ Medici in the Palazzo Vecchio of Florence. Its subject is based on the quarrel between Cleopatra and Marc Anthony, recorded by the classical author Pliny the Elder, over who could give the most lavish feast. Demonstrating her wealth, the queen melted in wine a priceless pearl from her earrings. To stop Cleopatra from destroying her second pearl the referee of the wager announced her as the winner.

Provenance

Baron Adolphe Augustin Rey de Villette, Boulogne-sur-Seine and Paris (1864-1934), L.2200a; Wynne Jeudwine (London); purchased there via the Witt Fund by The Courtauld, June 1963 Not in the Baron's 1931 sale.

Exhibition History

Drawings Gallery Display - Renaissance Modern, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 22/04/2015-07/06/2015

The Legacy of Michelangelo, Palazzo Strozzi, Florence, 13/06/2002-29/09/2002

Master Drawings from the Courtauld Collections, Courtauld Institute Galleries, London, 16/10/1991-19/01/1992 ...More

Firenze e la Toscana dei Medici nell'Europa del Cinquecento, Florence, 1980

Arezzo, Italy, 1974

Italian Old Master drawings. Witt Collection, Courtauld Gallery, The National Art Gallery of New Zealand, Wellington, 1970

16th Century Italian Drawings from the Witt Collection, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 1969

Newly Acquired Drawings for the Witt Collection, Courtauld Institute Galleries, London, 1965-1966 ...Less

Literature

Newly Acquired Drawings for the Witt Collection, Courtauld Institute Galleries, London, 1965-1966
cat. no. 18
pl. III

Berti, L., Il Principe dello Studiolo. Francesco I dei Medici e la fine del Rinascimento fiorentino, Florence 1967
p. 173

Vitzthum, Walter, Lo Studiolo di Francesco I a Firenze, 1968
pl. 59 ...More

Italian Old Master drawings. Witt Collection, Courtauld Gallery, The National Art Gallery of New Zealand, Wellington, 1970
cat. no. 17

Lecchini Giovannoni, Simona, Mostra di disegni di Alessandro Allori (Firenze 1535-1607), Florence 1970
pp. 41-42, no. 46

Monbeig Goguel, Catherine, Il Manierismo fiorentino, Milan 1971
p. 86

Vitzthum, Walter, I disegni dei Maestri: Il Maniersmo Fiorentino, 1971
pl. XXXVI

Firenze e la Toscana dei Medici nell'Europa del Cinquecento, Florence, 1980
cat. no. 565
p. 286

Master Drawings from the Courtauld Collections, Courtauld Institute Galleries, London, 1991
cat. no. 1
pp. 10, 170
ill. on p. 11

Lecchini Giovannoni, Simona, Alessandro Allori, Turin 1991
p. 271
fig. 262

The Legacy of Michelangelo, Palazzo Strozzi, Florence, 2002
cat. no. 150
ill. on p. 289

Anderson, Jaynie, Tiepolo's Cleopatra, Melbourne 2003
pp. 71, 73
fig. 48 on p. 71 ...Less

Inscriptions

Watermark: Recto, lower right (in front of dog's snout): a 6-pointed star with a line - unable to see further as an extra strip of paper is between the drawing and backing sheet.

Inscription: Verso (backing sheet): centre, graphite: "No=20"; lower centre, graphite: "Allori / Antonio - Cleopatra. / Gemalde in Palazzo Vecchio"; below that, inscriptions in graphite erased and now mostly illegible: "[...]29 f. 92"; lower right, blue crayon: "H.7R[?]".

Collector's mark: Verso (backing sheet): lower left edge, stamped in blue: Adolphe Augustin Rey de Villette (L.2200a).

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