Giorgio Vasari, Joannes Stradanus

G.H. Winterbottom Collection;
By whom sold, London, Christie's, 20 December 1935 (as Bril and Carracci) there purchased by Meatyard;
With F.R. Meatyard, London, 1937; 
H.A. Brand Collection;
Baer Collection, London;
With Hazlitt Gallery, London by 1952;
D. Sutton Collection, London;
Thence by descent to the present owner.

London, Hazlitt Gallery, Vasari to Tiepolo, an Exhibition of Fourteen Paintings, May 1952, no. 1 (as Vasari);
Naples, Palazzo Reale, Fontainebleau e la Maniera Italiana, July - October 1952, no. 63 (as Vasari).

G. Briganti, Vasari to Tiepolo: An exhibition of fourteen paintings, exhibition catalogue, London 1952, no. 1 (as Vasari);
B. Nicolson, "From Vasari to Tiepolo, at the Hazlitt Gallery," in The Burligton Magazine, vol. 94, no. 590, May 1952, p. 148 (as Vasari);
F. Antal, "Letter: Vasari to Tiepolo, at the Hazlitt Gallery," in The Burlington Magazine, vol. 94, no. 594, September 1952, p. 270 (as Jacopo Zucchi);
B. Molajoli, F. Bologna, R. Causa, Fontainebleau e la maniera italiana: Mostra d'oltremare e del lavoro italiano nel mondo, exhibition catalogue, Florence 1952, p. 36, no. 63, reproduced plate no. 58 (as Vasari);
G. Briganti, Treasures of Italian Art, exhibition catalogue, London 1988, p. 20, reproduced p. 23, fig. 3 (as Vasari);
L. Corti, Vasari, Catalogo completo dei dipinti, Florence 1989, p. 113, no. 91 (as Vasari);
U. Baldini, Giorgio Vasari, pittore, Florence 1994, p. 187 (as by Vasari from a drawing by Stradanus);
A. Baroni, "A Flemish Artist at the Medici Court in Florence in the Second Half of the Sixteenth Century: Life, Works and Modus Operandi of the Painter-Cartoonist Johannes Stradanus," in Stradanus 1523 - 1605: Court Artist of the Medici, exhibition catalogue, ed. A. Baroni and M. Sellink, Turnhout 2012, pp. 81-83, reproduced p. 81, fig. 26 (as attributed to Stradanus with likely collaboration from Vasari).

The following condition report has been provided by Simon Parkes of Simon Parkes Art Conservation, Inc. 502 East 74th St. New York, NY 212-734-3920, simonparkes@msn.com, an independent restorer who is not an employee of Sotheby's. This painting has not been recently cleaned or restored, and it may be a consideration to reexamine the restoration at this time. The lining is applied with wax. The original canvas is joined horizontally through the center of the composition. There may be an additional join beneath the feet of the central bird catcher, but this does not appear to be an addition. Under ultraviolet light, a diagonal restoration which runs through the lower back and backside of the bird catcher which runs about just over twelve inches is faintly visible. There are also restorations along the original canvas join. One can see a few broad retouches elsewhere in the picture on top of an old varnish. The retouches visible under ultraviolet light are very heavy handed and probably misguided. However, it is more important to notice that the condition of the paint layer beneath this old varnish will probably be very fresh and lively even though there will be some weakness here and there. The paint layer to the bird catchers pink tunic will be thinner if the work is cleaned, and some of the more resilient darker colors may have been glazed in restoration. The figure in shadow in the lower left seems to be in healthy condition, and although there are presumably restorations here as well, they are probably not numerous. There is a damage in his shoulder, and some broad retouching here. There is a diagonal cut in his forearm, which is very poorly restored. The left edge has some broad filling and retouching from top to bottom, as does the right edge. There are arguably three approaches to this painting. One approach would be to hang the picture in its current condition. Another would be to adjust the existing retouches without cleaning the picture. The last would be to properly clean the work. While cleaning the work would remove all of the restorations mentioned above, and possibly some that are not mentioned, I believe the result would ultimately be better since the retouches would be more accurate and truthful, and the picture would gain immeasurably.
"This lot is offered for sale subject to Sotheby's Conditions of Business, which are available on request and printed in Sotheby's sale catalogues. The independent reports contained in this document are provided for prospective bidders' information only and without warranty by Sotheby's or the Seller."

This impressive and imposing composition of two bird catchers hunting is an important collaborative work between Medici court painter, Giorgio Vasari and his pupil, Joannes Stradanus.  The canvas was published by art historian, Giuliano Briganti: first in 1952, when he gave the work solely to Giorgio Vasari; and again in a 1988 exhibition catalogue, when he identified its unquestionable association with the Fisherman, a canvas of comparable height then with the Walpole Gallery, London and now in a private collection (see fig. 1).¹ The similarly clothed, oversized figures with powerfully dynamic poses present in both, the exaggerated foreshortening, and, most palpably, the parallel hunting themes, provide a compelling case for Briganti’s link.  

In this second publication, Briganti further hypothesized the origin of the commission for the two canvases, venturing an association with a project for the decoration of the Villa Medici at Poggio a Caino.  Based on their size and subject matter, he observed that the Bird Catchers and the Fishermen are likely to have formed part of a cycle of hunting scenes commissioned by the Grand Duke Cosimo de’ Medici as painted canvases or perhaps designs for tapestries.²  In a letter dated 26 September 1561, Vasari wrote to the Granduca regarding plans for a series of tapestries portraying various forms of hunting and fishing destined for the villa.  The strong affinity, both stylistically and in subject matter, tie the pair closely to the hunting decoration cycle and the differing widths of the two may indicate their destined locations, the narrower width of the Bird Catchers suggesting it was perhaps intended as an  entrefinetre, to decorate the space between two windows.³ 

Though neither the composition of the Birdcatchers nor of the Fishermen correspond with known cartoons for the villa at Poggio a Caino, the works may have been initial designs that were later set aside or rejected.⁴  Briganti believed these two works to have been executed by Vasari who then delegated the large scale commission to his pupil, Stradanus, as he described in his 1568 edition of Vite:

 “… e per venti stanze del palazzo del Poggio a Caino che se ne fanno i panni giornalmente, ha fatto (Stradanus) con invenzioni del Duca nei cartoni le caccie che si fanno di tutti gli animali et i modi di uccellare e pescare con le più strane e belle invenzioni del mondo.”⁵

While Briganti’s hypothesis connecting the paintings to the Poggio a Caino decoration remains speculative, their attribution is more certain: the distinct styles of Giorgio Vasari and Joannes Stradanus, both of which are recognizable here, suggest this painting was a collaborative effort between the two artists.  From his arrival in Florence, Stradanus worked under Vasari collaborating in numerous commissions, most notably on the altarpiece for the Parish church of Santa Maria in Arezzo and the double-faced Standard of Saint Roch (Museo Statale d’Arte Medievale e Moderna, Arezzo, inv. no. 54-55).⁶  While it is difficult in collaborative works such as this to separate the two hands, the monumental figures, aggressive foreshortening and strong palette are all highly characteristic of Vasari who would appear to have been the primary force behind this commission.  Indeed Vasari's aesthetic is so dominant that until recently the present painting has been continuously published as his work alone. 

1.  See G. Briganti 1988 under Literature.
2.  See L. Corti under Literature, op. cit., p. 113, no. 91, reproduced.
3.  See G. Briganti 1988 under Literature, op. cit., p. 22.
4.  K. Frey, Der literarische Nachlass von Giorgio Vasari, Munich 1923, pp. 632-633, no. CCXLVII.
5.  See G. Briganti 1988 under Literature, op. cit., p. 20, translates: “...and for twenty rooms of the palace at Poggio a Caino, where they wash linen daily, (Stradanus), with ideas from the Duke, made cartoons of scenes hunting animals of all types and every way of bird catching and fishing with the most strange and beautiful inventions in the world.” 
6.  See A. Baroni under Literature, op. cit., pp. 82 and 345-346.