Gherardo Cibo Geona 1512 - 1600 Rocca Contrada

Glued at the upper part of the sheet to a 20th century board; the paper has broken in parts where it has been glued down. Irregular edges, small losses to the corners, and a loss to the lower part of the right edge; also a few small tears running from the edges. At the upper edge there is a very small loss, due to biting of the ink at the end of the inscription. A small loss at the bottom left corner, also due to corrosion of the ink. A pinpoint hole at the centre of the sheet. Overall, however, the drawing is in good condition.
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NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS PRINTED IN THE SALE CATALOGUE."

This is very characteristic of Gherardo Cibo's charming drawings from nature, and, as clearly revealed by the inscription at the top, was once part of a sketchbook.  A similar sketchbook by the artist (at that time still called Messer Ulisse Severino da Cingoli) was sold in these Rooms, 3 July 1989, lot 106.  It contained twenty-two pages, mostly pen and ink views taken in the neighborhood of Sinigallia in 1564, the same year as the present study.

At the time of the exhibition in San Severino Marche, Arnold Nesselrath identified the so-called Messer Ulisse as Gherardo Cibo and told the story of his life.  Born in 1512 into an important and influential Genoese aristocratic family, he decided to abandon an ecclesiastical career and to pursue his interests as a musician and botanist far from the papal court.  Cibo spent his long life in the Marche, in Rocca Contrada, where he had lived with his family in his childhood.  He died there in 1600.¹

1. See Arnold Nesselrath, 'Gherardo Cibo: 'qui non è cognito', in Gherardo Cibo, exhibition catalogue, Comune di San Severino Marche, 1989, pp. 5-16