Lot 2: GHERARDO CIBO

MOUNTAINOUS RIVER LANDSCAPE WITH ROAD THROUGH A ROCK ARCH AND A RIVERSIDE VILLAGE

7 5/16 by 10 1/2 in; 186 by 268 mm

Laren, Singer Museum, Oude Tekeningen uit de Nederlanden, verzameling Prof. E. Perman, Stockholm, 1962, cat. 138 (as Flemish Master working in Italy, end of the 16th Century)

Prof. Einar Perman, Stockholm;
sale, New York, Sotheby's, 26 January 2002, lot 9

This fantastical landscape, typical of Gherardo Cibo, shows the strong influence of Northern prints on the work of this poetic amateur artist. Born into an important noble Genoese family, Cibo was initially destined for the priesthood, but decided to abandon an ecclesiastical career to pursue his interests as a musician and botanist. His real identity was only revealed in 1989 by Arnold Nesselrath; previously, many of his drawings were attributed to a variety of Northern artists such as Bril, Cock or Spranger, or listed under the name "Messer Ulisse Severino da Cingoli". The present drawing can be compared with works such as the Landscape with hermits, now in the British Museum. (1)

1. See Gherardo Cibo, exhib. cat., San Severino Marche, 1989, p. 28, reproduced fig. 16