English School, circa 1823

With Antonio Muñoz (1884-1960), Rome, by 1954;
by whom given to his sister, Emilia;
sold circa 1960;
Private Collection, England

Drawn on a lightweight white wove paper and laid down on another thin wove paper. Eight drawings are framed in modern light wood frames. Twelve are unframed. In general most sheets are in good condition.
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The celebrated original series of drawings by Federico Zuccaro, on which these fine worked up tracings are based, is now in the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles. The original series, drawn in the 1590s, illustrates the early life of Taddeo, Federico's older brother.  Each drawing portrays a poignant stage in Taddeo's young life and clearly highlights the great respect that Federico had for this elder sibling.   Julian Brooks aptly describes the essence of the series stating that 'the overriding themes of the drawings are the dedication to disegno and the overcoming of personal and professional hardships.'¹  The series, whilst being a powerful personal tribute, is also a window into the life of a young Renaissance artist.

There has been much debate over why Federico embarked on this intimate and didactic life series but one credible suggestion, supported by John Gere, is that they were intended for the decoration of Federico's house in Rome, for which building works commenced in the 1590s.²  Many of the sheets are shaped like dumbbells, some vertical and others horizontal, which serves to strengthen the argument that they were executed as part of a complex decorative scheme rather than merely as a set of drawings.

There were originally twenty four drawings in the series. The four missing drawings were portraits of Taddeo and the three most important influential figures in his artistic career: Raphael, Michelangelo and Polidoro.  These are now only known through old copies housed in the Uffizi.  Many other copies after this series or individual drawings within it exist, amongst which some are considered autograph works by Federico, while others are thought to be fine workshop copies. 

The set offered here appears to be the only complete replication of all twenty of the original drawings, and appear to have been traced directly from the originals. The paper used is a very lightweight, extremely translucent, wove support, which is laid down on another light wove sheet.  Peter Bower has carried out an extensive report on both papers and concludes that they are Whatman papers made by William Balston in Kent during the 1820s.  The backing paper also bears the Whatman watermark for 1823. 

The Getty's series have a distinguished provenance which can be traced to France in the 18th Century and then to England when in the possession of Samuel Woodburn (1786-1853), the esteemed London art dealer. Woodburn sold the drawings to Thomas Dimsdale and later acquired them back after Dimsdale's death in 1823.  Woodburn then sold the drawings again to the portrait painter, Sir Thomas Lawrence before acquiring them for a third time after Lawrence's death.  In the light of the Whatman paper dates, it has been proposed that these copies may have been made when the originals were in Woodburn's possession for the second time, in 1823.

Unfortunately, we do not know who executed the copies. One can perhaps assume that they are by an English hand, not least due to the numerous errors in the transcriptions of the Italian text found on the drawings.  It is also not known why these copies were made, whether intended as a record or for a series of prints.  The copies do vary in quality but the copyist seems to adhere to the lines, retaining a lot of the spontaneity and charm so resplendent in the originals.

1. J. Brooks, Taddeo and Federico Zuccaro, Artist-Brothers in Renaissance Rome, The J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, 2007, p. 2

2. See Introduction by John Gere 'The Life of Taddeo Zuccaro by Federico Zuccaro' in Sotheby's sale catalogue, New York, 11 January 1990