1985.90: Study of a Tree

Identification and Creation

Object Number

1985.90

People

Fra Bartolommeo della Porta, Italian (Florence, Italy 1472 - 1517 Florence, Italy)

Title

Study of a Tree

Classification

Drawings

Work Type

drawing

Date

15th-16th century

Places

Creation Place: Europe, Italy, Tuscany, Florence

Culture

Italian

Persistent Link

https://hvrd.art/o/295286

Physical Descriptions

Medium

Black chalk on off-white antique laid paper

Dimensions

40.7 x 27.7 cm (16 x 10 7/8 in.)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History

Seiferheld Gallery, New York, From Sotheby's (?), Sold to Peter Josten (?), 1961. no. 1, repr.
Gallery at 158 East 64th Street, NY 21
Paolo del Signoraccio, called Fra Paolino da Pistoia, Convent of San Marco, Florence, Probably as part of artist's bequest to Fra Paol, Bequest to Suor Plautilla Nelli. Fra Paolino da Pistoia (died 1537) was Fra Bartolommeo's studio assistant and, according to Vasari and Lorenzo di Credi, his heir
Suor Plautilla Nelli, Convent of S. Caterina, Florence, Acquired from Fra Paolina, 1547, Remained at Convent of Santa Caterina, 1588. Suor Plautilla Nelli was Fra Paolina's pupil. She entered the Convent of Santa Caterina in 1537. Fra Paolina must have given her the drawings before his death in 1547. The work remained at the convent until 1725.
Convent of Santa Caterina da Siena, Piazza San Marco, Florence, Bequest from Suor Plautilla Nelli, 1588, Sold to Cavaliere Francesco Gabburri, 1725. Possibly from the convent. (Buyer: Cavaliere Francesco Maria Nicolò Gabburri)
Cavaliere Francesco Maria Nicolò (1676-1742) Gabburri, Florence, Purchased from Convent of S. Caterina da Siena, 1725, Sold by Gabburri's heirs, 1742. The landscape drawings were bound into an album c. 1730. The frontispiece of the album bore the coat of arms of Gabburri. The drawings were attributed at that time to Andrea del Sarto. For information on Gabburri see L. 2818, L. Suppl. 2992b. See also the preface to the Sotheby's sale catalogue of 1957 and Chris Fischer in the Rotterdam catalogue of 1990, pp. 12-17. Fischer postulates that the landscape drawings were not part of the 505 Bartolommeo drawings purchased by Gabburri from the Convent of Santa Caterina, Florence, but instead came from another source as they were not at that time recognized to be by Bartolommeo. This is credible as Lorenzo di Credi's inventory of the drawings given to Fra Paolino da Pistoia lists 830 loose sheets and 12 sketchbooks, but misses out 66 of the separate landscape drawings.
William Kent, London, Purchased from the heirs of Gabburri, 1742, Sold to private collector in England by 1768. Chris Fischer in the Rotterdam catalogue, 1990, p. 15, notes that some of the landscapes were copied by Robert Surtees, an amateur artist from Durham, in drawings dated 1768 and sold at Christie's in London on March 18, 1980, lot no. 6.The provenance identification of William Kent has been the subject of some dispute. Please see the article by John Fleming, "Mr. Kent, Art Dealer, and the Fra Bartolommeo Drawings," "The Connoisseur," vol. CXLI, 1958, p. 227. At the time of the 1957 sale it was assumed that the drawings were owned by William Kent, the architect. Fleming, however, noted that was far more likely that the works were obtained by his namesake, a dealer, who made extensive purchases in Italy for a number of English clients.
Private Collector, England, Probably acquired from William Kent, 1768, Unknown, 1925. Probably passed through a number of private Eng. collections until 1925
Private Collector, Ireland, Purchase, 1925, Sold at Sotheby's London, 1957. Sale, November 20, 1957, lot no. 40, repr. The private collector was identified as Sir Thomas Phillipps (subsequently his heirs) in "An Exhibition of Old Master Drawings," New York/London (Richard Day), 1988, under no. 8.
Sotheby's, London, Sold as "The Property of a Gentleman", 1957. There is confusion as to who purchased the drawing from Sotheby's. According to the entry for lot no. 8, Christie's Old Master Drawing catalogue of June 24, 1980, our drawing "was included in the Gabburri album, lot 40, and later owned by Sir Robert Abdy." In Albert Jan Elen's "Italian Late-Medieval and Renaissance Drawing-Books," note 1, p. 283, it is noted that "Lot 40 has been in the Skippe collection and in the Sir Robert Abdy collection (present whereabouts unknown)."
Peter W. Josten, Purchased from Seiferheld (?), 1961, 1962.
Stephen Spector, Sold to John Minor Wisdom, Jr., 1962. Sale July, 1962 for $6,100
John Minor Wisdom Jr., New Orleans, Purchased from Stephen Spector for $6,100, 1962, Bequest to HUAM, 1985.

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line

Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Bequest of John Minor Wisdom, Jr., in honor of Agnes Mongan

Accession Year

1985

Object Number

1985.90

Division

European and American Art

Contact

am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu

Permissions

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Publication History

• W. R. Jeudwine, "Fine Works on the Market: A Volume of Landscape Drawings by Fra Bartolommeo", Apollo (1957), vol. LXVI, pp. 132-35, p. 135
• Catalogue of the Drawings of Landscapes and Trees by Fra Bartolommeo, auct. cat., Sotheby's (London, England, November 20, 1957), lot 40, p. xvi; repr. p. 62
• Eric Van Schaack, Master Drawings, No. 2, exh. cat., Seiferheld & Co. (New York, NY, March 1961), text cat. no. 1, n.p.; repr. no. 1, n.p.
• Eric Van Schaack, Master Drawings in Private Collections, exh. cat., Lambert-Spector, Inc. (New York, 1962), text pp. 6-7 and cat. no. 4, p. 70; repr. cat. no. 4, n.p.
• Stephen Spiro and Robert Randolf Coleman, Master Drawings: The Wisdom-Reilly Collection, exh. cat., Snite Museum of Art (Notre Dame, IN, 1987), p. 8 and note 1, p. 10
• Agnes Mongan, Konrad Oberhuber, and Jonathan Bober, The Famous Italian Drawings at the Fogg Art Museum in Cambridge, Silvana Editoriale (Milan, Italy, 1988), pp. 26, 27 and 28, repr. fig. 8
• Albert Jan Elen, Italian Late-Medieval and Renaissance Drawing-Books from Giovannino de'Grassi to Palma Giovane: A Codicological Approach, Privately Published (Leiden, 1995), under no. 46, p. 280-284
• Old Master Drawings, auct. cat., Christie's, London (London, England, July 7, 1998), under cat. no. 8, p. 21
• Old Master Drawings, auct. cat., Christie's, New York (New York, NY, January 24, 2001), under cat. no. 7, p. 22

Exhibition History

• Master Drawings in Private Collections, Helene C. Seiferheld Gallery, New York, 03/01/1961 - 03/31/1961

Verification Level