Workshop of Perino del Vaga

The present drawing relates to one of the scenes in the series of tapestries illustrating the story of Aeneas, commissioned by Andrea Doria for the salone of Neptune in the Palazzo Doria in Genoa and designed by Perino del Vaga.

This particular scene is known in two other variants: an autograph version in the Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool, in reverse to the final tapestry, and a workshop drawing in the Louvre, Paris. The Louvre drawing and the present sheet are identical in composition and are in the same direction as the tapestry.

Linda Wolk-Simon, who, from digital images, has provided the current owner with her evaluation of the present drawing, posits the idea that this sheet is based on a lost original drawing, by Perino but recording his idea and final design, rather than being a direct copy after the woven tapestry.

Wolk-Simon emphasizes the significance of ricordi of such important final designs, not only as vital documents but as invaluable tools for the workshop in terms of its artistic growth and development. While acknowledging stylistic similarities between the present sheet and Perino's technique, she also points out essential differences and incoherent passages, which rule out the possibility that this is an autograph work. Wolk-Simon tentatively puts forward the idea that an attribution to Luca Penni should be explored, given that the two artists worked together in Genoa and there are known drawings by Penni after Perino's Genoese originals.

For more information on Andrea Doria's commission see: Bernice Davidson, “The Furti di Giove Tapestries Designed by Perino del Vaga for Andrea Doria,” The Art Bulletin, vol. 70, no. 3, 1988, pp. 424-450.