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Study for Saint Mary Magdalene (recto)

Maker

(artist)
1472-1517

Title

Date of Production

(circa) 1509

Medium

charcoal on laid paper (recto has grey tone to it, verso has a white stain across the sheet; no white particles visible evident of a white ground but paper has been rubbed and flattened) (recto and verso), the verso also squared in charcoal; the upper corners cut (examined in VSC with Paper Conservator)

Dimensions

Height: 23.1 cm
Width: 18.2 cm

Accession Number

D.1978.PG.348

Mode of Acquisition

Count Antoine Seilern, bequest, 1978

Credit

The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)

Copyright

Work in the public domain

Location

Not currently on display

Keywords

Label Text

Fra Bartolommeo used both sides of this sheet for studies for the figure of Saint Mary Magdalene in the altarpiece he made in 1509 for the church of San Marco, Florence. Several differences between this sketch and the kneeling figure in the final picture hint at an early stage in the development of the composition. The drawing on the verso is squared. However, Fra Bartolommeo probably drew these lines as an aid for determining the figure' s proportions, rather than intending them for transfer. 

Provenance

Jonathan Richardson, the elder, London (1665-1745), L.2183 (lower right); Marquess of Northampton; his sale, Christie's (London), 1 May 1959, lot 2; purchased there by Colnaghi (London) on behalf of Count Antoine Seilern, London (1901-1978) (£997.10); Princes Gate Bequest 1978

Literature

Seilern, Count Antoine, Italian paintings and drawings at 56 Princes Gate, London SW7. Addenda, London 1969; V
no. 348
pls. XXVIII (recto), XXIX (verso)
dated 1509

Mullaly, Terence, 'Bartolommeo drawing makes 6,200gns'
?
newspaper clipping in file

Inscriptions

Watermark: Watermark: centre: a cup-shaped flower [same type though no exact match as Piccard 127165-127167 = Florence 1439, Florence 1440, Rome 1451].

Inscription: none.

Collector's mark: Recto: lower right corner, stamped in black: Jonathan Richardson, the elder (L.2183).

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