Lot 22: Giulio Pippi, called Giulio Romano , Rome 1499 - 1546 Mantua Jupiter and Juno received in the heavens by ganymede and hebe Pen and brown ink and wash over black chalk, squared for transfer in black chalk; bears numbering in pencil: 40

Pen and brown ink and wash over black chalk, squared for transfer in black chalk; bears numbering in pencil: 40

measurements note 394 by 552mm

London, P. & D. Colnaghi & Co., Old Master Drawings, 1984, cat. no. 3, reproduced;
Gainesville, et al, 1991-93, cat. no. 1;
New York, Hunter College, Giulio Romano: Master Designer, 1999, cat. no. 38 (catalogue entry by Michael McAuliffe)

J. Shearman, The Early Italian Pictures in the Collection of Her Majesty the Queen, Cambridge, Massachusetts and London 1983, under cat. no. 123;
K. Oberhuber in Giulio Romano, exhibition catalogue, Mantua, Palazzo Tè, 1989, p. 427;
S. Massari, Giulio Romano pinxit et delineavit. Opere grafiche autografe di collaborazione e bottega, exhibition catalogue, Rome, Istituto nazionale per la grafica, 1993, under cat. no. 57

Sir Thomas Lawrence (L.2334);
Samuel Woodburn, 1836;
Lord Francis Egerton, first Earl of Ellesmere, Mertoun House (L.2710b);
by descent to the Duke of Sutherland;
by whom sold, London, Christie's, 9 December 1980, lot 17;
with Arnoldi-Livie, 1982, cat. no. 13;
with Colnaghi, London; acquired 1984

This study is a modello for the painting of the same subject at Hampton Court Palace.υ1 The painting was executed by Giulio and his workshop as part of an original cycle of twelve scenes depicting the infancy and youth of Jupiter and his family. Of the twelve paintings, six are still known today, all in English collections. According to Hartt, the cycle may be divided into four groups of three paintings, which suggests they may have been painted for a palace chamber.υ2 Hartt argues that the paintings' focus on childbirth, motherhood and childhood prowess suggests that the cycle was commissioned to celebrate the birth in 1533 of Duke Federigo Gonzaga's son, Francesco III. The following year, two small rooms were constructed within the Castello, Mantua, for the Duchess (which have since been destroyed), and Hartt believes that it was for this suite that Giulio made his paintings.υ3 There is, however, no documentary evidence to support this hypothesis, and Oberhuber has since pointed out the similarity in style between the present sheet and a preparatory drawing by Giulio for a lost painting in the same series, Neptune on his sea Chariot. Based on the stylistic similarity of the sheets to the ceiling frescoes in the Gabinetto dei Cesari in the Palazzo Ducale, Oberhuber dates both drawings to 1537.υ4 The iconography of the composition appears to be entirely of Giulio's invention, although the throne and eagle of Jupiter in fact derives from an antique source.υ5 The design follows that of a Roman relief which was mounted by Giulio in a wall niche in the Loggia dei Marmi of the Palazzo Ducale.υ6 A symbol of imperial power, the motif was clearly a favourite of the Duke's, as Giulio had also employed the throne and eagle at the summit of the illusionary dome that surmounts the Palazzo del Te's Sala dei Giganti.υ7 In terms of the transfer of the design to the painting, relatively little was changed. The chief differences are that the landscape trailing away behind the god and goddess has been made more elaborate, Juno's peacock has disappeared, and the male acolyte's position has been altered slightly. Interestingly (and as George Cumberland already surmised in the 18th century), the print of the design made by Giulio Bonasone between 1546 and 1550 is closer to the Horvitz modello, indicating that it was this, and not the painting, that served as the basis for the engraving.υ8 1. See F. Hartt, Giulio Romano, New Haven 1958, vol. I, pp. 214-5, vol. II, fig. 462 2. Ibid., p. 211 3. Ibid., p. 212 4. Oberhuber, loc. cit. 5. M. McAuliffe in Giulio Romano, exh. cat., 1999, loc. cit., 6. D. Chambers and J. Martineau, Splendours of the Gonzaga, exh. cat., London, Victoria & Albert Museum, 1981-2, p. 193, cat. no. 183 7. Hartt, op.cit., vol. II, fig. 347 8. S. Massari, loc. cit., citing G. Cumberland, Some anecdotes of the life of Julio Bonasoni..., London 1793, p. 89