Lot 46: ATTRIBUTED TO FRANCESCO VILLAMENA

ATTRIBUTED TO FRANCESCO VILLAMENA ASSISI 1564 -1624 ROME ST HILARION OF CYPRUS CONTEMPLATING A CRUCIFIX AND SKULL Pen and brown ink 268 by 195 mm

This seems to be preparatory for an engraving executed in Rome in 1613 which is signed Francesco Villamena inventor et sculpsit Roma. It is part of a series of prints of anchorites, some of which are after Ferraù Fenzoni.υ1

St. Hilarion was born in 300 in Gaza, but moved to Egypt where he was converted by St. Anthony. He then became a hermit, living on fifteen figs a day, but as his fame spread, he moved to find true isolation, ending in Cyprus where he died in 372. His veneration became popular in France in the 11th century, when his relics were taken to the church in Duravel, Lot, a pilgrimage site to this day. Villamena may have been a pupil of Cornelis Cort and was an associate of Agostino Carracci. The largest part of his oeuvre is composed of prints after such artists as Veronese, Barocci, Muziano and Raphael. He was also influenced by late Mannerist artists of the northern schools, such as Goltzius and Bellange.

1. G. Scavizzi and N. Schwed, Ferraù Fenzoni, Todi 2006, p. 364, nos. S5, S6