Follower of Paolo Uccello

Mrs. Erwin Rosenthal, Zurich;
Sale, Bern, Klipstein and Kornfeld, 1960, lot 119 (as Italian School, second half of the 15th Century);
Sale, London, Christie's, 11 December 1979, lot 32 (as North Italian School, circa 1470)

A. M. Hind, Early Italian Engravings, reprint, Nendeln 1970, vol. I, p. 214, under no. 4;
J. Byam Shaw, Review: 'Early Italian Engravings' by A. M. Hind,' The Burlington Magazine, vol. 74, no. 434, May 1939, p. 246, D.III.4;
B. Degenhart and A. Schmitt, Corpus der Italienischen Zeichnungen, 1300-1450, Berlin 1968, vol. I, 2, p. 399, p. 401, reproduced fig. 533, p. 402, note 23

Laid down and made up quite a bit (about 3 cm ) at the top and right margin, and to the left and bottom edge of the drawing. Some ink writing coming through from the verso. A loss just to the right of the lion's tail. Some staining and surface dirt.
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.

This rare early drawing was published by Degenhart and Schmitt in their section devoted to Paolo Uccello.  The subject is an example of a motif often used in the fifteenth century, and bears close similarities with Florentine pattern-books of animals, some associated with the bottega of Uccello.¹  A copy of the same dragon is in the Kupferstichkabinett, Berlin, where the invention of such a fantastic creature has been attributed to Paolo Uccello.²   It is interesting to note that the same dragon fighting a lion appears in the lower left-hand section of a Florentine print, circa 1460, attributed to Baccio Baldini (circa 1436-1487) of which the only surviving example is in the British Museum.³   A very similar dragon appears again in the top left section of another of Baldini's engravings, of about the same date, The Creation of Eve,⁴ which shows three episodes from the Creation condensed in one image, and appears to derive from Paolo Uccello's frescoes of circa 1430 in the Chiostro Verde, Santa Maria Novella, Florence.⁵   There are also similarities with the dragon in Uccello's panel St. George and the Dragon, in the Musée Jacquemart-André, Paris.⁶  The subject could represent a political allegory, illustrating the battles between Florence and Milan, the lion being a representation of the Marzocco, the heraldic lion which was the republican symbol of Florence, while the dragon could represent the Biscione, the emblem of the Visconti family of Milan.

1.  B. Degenhart and A. Schmitt, op. cit., pp. 406-412, reproduced
2.  H.T. Schulze Altcappenberg, Die italienischen Zeichnungen des 14  und 15 Jahrhunderts im Berliner Kupferstichkabinett: Kritischer Katalog, Berlin 1995, pp. 264-5, reproduced  
3.  B. Degenhart and A. Schmitt, op. cit., p. 401, reproduced fig. 532
4.  A.M. Hind, op. cit., pl. 86
5.  J. Pope-Hennessy, Paolo Uccello, 2d ed., London & New York, 1969, reproduced pls.1-10
6.  Ibid., pl. 77