Master Works on Paper from Five Centuries

Master Works on Paper from Five Centuries

View full screen - View 1 of Lot 10. Bacchanale.

Giulio Raibolini, called Giulio Francia

Bacchanale

Auction Closed

January 26, 04:31 PM GMT

Estimate

20,000 - 30,000 USD

Lot Details

Description

Giulio Raibolini, called Giulio Francia

1487 - 1545

Bacchanale


Pen and brown ink and wash

254 by 197 mm; 10 by 7¾ in.

Jan Pieterz. Zoomer (1641-1724), Amsterdam (L.1511);
William Mayor (died 1874), London (L.2799);
Sir Edward John Poynter (1836-1919), London (L.874);
Private Collection;
sale, Düsseldorf, C.G. Boerner, 9 March 1983, lot 77 (as Circle of Andrea Mantegna);
Private Collection
E. Negro and N. Roio, Francesco Francia e La Sua Scuola, Modena 1998, p. 106, fig, 148, reproduced and p. 110, under no. 44 (as Giulio Francia "ubicazione ignota")

Giulio Francia was the son of the Bolognese painter and goldsmith Francesco Francia (1447-1517) and, alongside his brother Giacomo, assumed responsibility for the family workshop upon the death of their father in 1517. Both brothers clearly absorbed their father's graphic style which was itself so clearly indebted to Mantegna. 


Drawings by Giulio and Giacomo Francia are exceedingly rare. Emilio Negro (see Literature) has identified only five sheets that can be attributed to the Francia brothers, including the present one which he believes to be by Giulio. The other four are in the British Museum, London,1 the Princeton University Art Museum,2 the Royal Collection, Windsor3 and in the Uffizi, Florence.4


The reappearance of the present work on the market for the first time in nearly forty years, with its strong classicizing influences and playful subject matter, therefore provides a unique opportunity for private and institutional collectors alike.


1. London, British Museum, inv. no. 1911,1018.3; Negro and Roio, op. cit. p. 105, fig, 147

2. Windsor, Royal Collection, RCIN 990297; ibid., p. 110, under note 44

3. Princeton, Princeton University Art Museum, inv. no. 1947-177; ibid.

4. Florence, Uffizi, inv. no. 582 E (as Bagnacavallo); ibid.