Jacopo Negretti, dit Palma le Jeune

The reproduction is faithful to the drawing. A repaired diagonal tear across the upper right corner. Otherwise 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."

Le dessin que nous présentons est une étude pour l'un des personnages principaux de l'importante toile illustrant l'Age de Fer, aujourd'hui au Palais Ducal, Mantoue.¹ Le tableau fut commandé par Giovanni Volpe, mandataire du duc Alessandro I Pico, pour le Palais Ducal à la Mirandole, afin de compléter une série de quatre œuvres sur le thème des Ages du Monde, dont les trois premières avaient été demandées par Sante Peranda. La toile de Palma fut transportée à Mantoue en 1715, à la suite d'un incendie à la Mirandole qui ravagea le palais.

Le sujet de notre dessin, emprunté aux Métamorphoses d'Ovide (1:89-150), reprend les quatre âges qui ont suivi la création du monde : l'Age d'Or, d'Argent, de Bronze et de Fer. L'Age de Fer de Palma illustre la malveillance et la brutalité du temps précédant le Déluge : une ville brûle au loin, une belle-mère empoisonne l'eau de son beau-fils et dans le centre de la composition, deux jeunes hommes sont enfermés ensemble lorsque l'un d'eux se prépare à poignarder l'autre dans le dos. Notre dessin est préparatoire pour la figure de la victime et constitue un parfait exemple du style libre et expressif des dessins à la craie de Palma.

1. Voir S. Mason Rinaldi, Palma Giovane: L'opera completa, Milan 1984, cat. no. 142, p. 91, reproduit p. 365, fig. 440.



A STANDING FIGURE

Black chalk heightened with white chalk, on grey paper;
bears inscription and numbering lower right

The present drawing is a study for one of the central figures in Palma's vast canvas depicting The Age of Iron, now in the Palazzo Ducale, Mantua (fig. 1).¹  The painting was commissioned by Giovanni Volpe, agent of Duke Alessandro I Pico, for the Ducal Palace in Mirandola, to complete a series of four depictions of The Ages of the World, the first three of which had been ordered from Sante Peranda.  Palma's canvas was brought to Mantua in 1715, following a fire in Mirandola which destroyed the palace.

The subject is taken from Ovid's Metamorphoses (1:89-150), which tells of four ages that followed the creation of the world: the Ages of Gold, Silver, Bronze and Iron.  Palma's Age of Iron illustrates the malice and violence of the time before the Flood: a city burns in the distance, a step-mother poisons the drinking water of her step-son and in the centre two young men are locked together as one prepares to thrust his dagger into the other's back.  The present drawing is preparatory for the figure of the victim, and is an excellent example of the free and expressive style of Palma's chalk drawings.

1. See S. Mason Rinaldi, Palma Giovane: L'opera completa, Milan 1984, cat. no. 142, p. 91, reproduced p. 365, fig. 440.