Stefano della Bella

Possibly Ferdinand de’Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany;
The Marquess of Cholmondeley;
sale, London, 19 February 1930, part of lot 83;
Purchased from Hans Calmann, July 1941

London, Royal Academy, The Paul Oppé Collection, 1958, no. 281

F. Viatte, ‘Allegorical and Burlesque Subjects by Stefano della Bella’, Master Drawings, vol. XV, no. 4, 1977, p. 354

Hinge mounted. Some very slight discoloration to the sheet and very minor foxing and areas of surface dirt. There is a small old crease to the lower right corner. The medium remains predominantly strong throughout. Sold in a modern wood 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. Prospective buyers should also refer to any Important Notices regarding this sale, which are printed in the Sale Catalogue.
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."

The present work is the first of 11 drawings offered for sale today, all of which were executed by the artist in pen and brown ink and grey wash, over black chalk, and were, until their sale at Sotheby’s in 1930, part of an album of 23 works made by della Bella, according to an inscription on the album, ‘for the amusement of his pupil Prince Ferdinand of Tuscany’.  Della Bella was in fact never the master of Ferdinand, who reigned from 1620 to 1670, but rather of his son, Cosimo III, who was eight years of age on della Bella's return to Florence from France in 1650.

The subject of all these drawings, dwarfs engaged in everyday activities, is first treated in Florence by Jacques Callot circa 1612, but undoubtedly stemmed from a longer cultural tradition in the same city, traceable back to the fifteenth century, and to artists like Leonardo da Vinci and Piero di Cosimo, who already showed a tendency to transform figures into grotesque form.

In her highly informative 1977 article Allegorical and Burlesque Subjects by Stefano della Bella, Françoise Viatte brought the aforementioned series of drawings to the fore for the first time since the 1930 sale, locating the whereabouts of 12 of the 23 works that originally constituted this series, two of which are in British institutions - the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford¹ and the Victoria and Albert Museum, London² respectively.  At the time of Viatte’s article it was assumed that the six drawings from the series in the collection of Dr. E. Schapiro, Paris,³ were the only sheets to have remained together since the album was broken up, presumably by Hans Calmann. However nearly 40 years on it is now possible to bring to light the missing 11 drawings (lots 20-21, 24-25, 30-32 and 39-42 in the present sale) which have, since their acquisition from Calmann in July 1941, been kept together in the Oppé collection.

The subjects of the 11 Oppé drawings vary widely, and include depictions of dwarfs fencing in a gymnasium (lot 39), dwarfs being pushed on swings (present lot) and a charming scene of a riding school (lot 21) in which a comically earnest student is depicted on horseback, in stark contrast to a fellow pupil in the background, who has lost control of his unruly steed and is being chased by his despairing instructor. A further particularly fascinating sheet from within the Oppé group is that of the Hedge School (lot 42) in which a seated teacher admonishes one of his teary pupils while, seated around a table to the right, other students, whose behaviour verges on the feral, show ever decreasing levels of interest in their education. Beyond its obvious aesthetic qualities, this drawing is also of particular interest in that it appears to be the only known sheet from this group to have been reproduced in etching, by G. Manni; an impression, bearing the legend S.D. Bella. In. G. Manni Scul., is in the collection of the Bibliothèque Nationale, Paris.⁴

For a more in depth discussion of the series, see F. Viatte, ‘Allegorical and Burlesque Subjects by Stefano della Bella’, Master Drawings, vol. XV, pp. 354-365.

^1. F. Viatte, op. cit., pl. 12
^2. Ibid., pl. 14
^3. Ibid., pl. 15-20
^4. Ibid., p. 361, fig. 13