Domenico Campagnola

Bears unidentified collector’s mark (L.2179a)
Jacques Tardieu, Marseille (L.1541a)
Dr. Michel Gaud
Sold: Sotheby's, Monaco, June 20, 1987, lot 73
Acquired at the above sale by A. Alfred Taubman

laid down and window mounted. A little very light foxing and surface dirt throughout. Very slightly rubbed, upper left corner. General condition otherwise good and fresh. Sold in a carved and gilded frame.
In response to your inquiry, we are pleased to provide you with a general report of the condition of the property described above. Since we are not professional conservators or restorers, we urge you to consult with a restorer or conservator of your choice who will be better able to provide a detailed, professional report. Prospective buyers should inspect each lot to satisfy themselves as to condition and must understand that any statement made by Sotheby's is merely a subjective qualified opinion.
NOTWITHSTANDING THIS REPORT OR ANY DISCUSSIONS CONCERNING CONDITION OF A LOT, ALL LOTS ARE OFFERED AND SOLD "AS IS" IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE CONDITIONS OF SALE PRINTED IN THE CATALOGUE.

Domenico Campagnola, a pupil of Giulio Campagnola, trained in early 16th-century Venice under the influence of Titian and Giorgione.  An engraver as well as a draughtsman, his drawings share a strong compositional vocabulary with that of the print.  Campagnola's landscape drawings, with a strong emphasis on linearity, display an awareness of leading Northern printmakers, including Albrecht Dürer.

Campagnola's landscapes emerge as his most influential artistic legacy and the present sheet is a fine example of his skill in this genre.  The medium of pen and brown ink takes us through an undulating terrain where cattle and herders occupy the lower left foreground and mountains dominate the left horizon.  Campagnola's distinct truncated lines are used to build up his composition and only deviate to form loops and curls when denoting foliage.  Whilst using a somewhat formulaic line, similar to the printing technique, the result achieved in his drawings is never static.  This is a particularly harmonious and vibrant example where the composition pulsates with an electric energy.

Comparable landscape drawings are in the Devonshire Collection at Chatsworth, notably numbers 264 and 269, which are both stylistically close to the present sheet (Michael Jaffé, The Devonshire Collection of Italian Drawings: Venetian and North Italian Schools, London, 1994, p. 53, no. 264 and p. 55, no. 269). Another similar landscape is at Christ Church, Oxford (J. Byam Shaw, Drawings by Old Masters at Christ Church Oxford, 2 vols, Oxford, 1976, vol. I, cat no. 725, vol. II, pl. 426).