Lot 36: BALDASSARE FRANCESCHINI, CALLED IL VOLTERRANO

BALDASSARE FRANCESCHINI, CALLED IL VOLTERRANO VOLTERRA 1611 - 1689 FLORENCE THE MYSTIC MARRIAGE OF ST. CATHERINE Black heightened with white chalk on grey-blue paper; on the verso some slight black chalk sketches of decorative motifs 283 by 369 mm

C. McCorquodale, 'Some unpublished works by Baldassare Franceschini il Volterrano', in Paradigma, 5, 1983, p. 70, fig. 67;
M.C. Fabbri in Il seicento fiorentino, exhib. cat., Florence, Palazzo Strozzi, 1987, p. 414, under no. 1.230;
V. Birke and J. Kertész, Die Italienischen Zeichnungen der Albertina, Vienna 1997, vol. IV, p. 2288, under inv. no. 23924

Sale, London, Sotheby's, Drawings by Baldassare Franceschini, 3 July 1980, lot 56 (catalogue by Charles McCorquodale), to Boerner;
with C.G. Boerner, Düsseldorf, from whom bought by the present owner in 1991

This very attractive study is characteristic of Volterrano's style in its strong, quick definition of form and in the very charming and feminine figure types and the sentiment they convey. It seems to be preparatory for a Mystic Marriage of St. Catherine acquired in 1985 by the Cassa di Risparmio e Depositi di Prato (fig. 1). Baldinucci records two paintings of this subject by Volterrano, one executed for the Marchese Mattias Maria Bartolommei and the other for the Grand Duchess Vittoria della Rovere. Fabbri believes the Prato painting, because of its high quality, must be the one painted for the Grand Duchess. He remarks upon the strong influence of Correggio and suggests a dating to the late 1650s.υ1 McCorquodale was inclined to date the drawing to the 1670s on stylistic grounds and to relate it to the Bartolommei version. What does, however, seems clear is that the present study and the following lot are connected to the Prato painting, whatever its provenance.

Two other drawings of the subject are known, one in the Uffizi (inv. no. 3204S) and one, an upright composition, in the Albertina (inv. no. 23924). McCorquodale also mentions a bozzetto in a private collection,υ2 and another painting, smaller in size and differing in some details from the Parma painting, was sold New York, Christie's, 15 June 1977, lot 77.

1. Fabbri, loc. cit.
2. McCorquodale, op. cit., 1980, p. 45