Studies of Saint Francis Kneeling and Other Figures

c. 1390/1410

Florentine School

Associated Names
This is a drawing of draped figures in motion. The drawing features sketches on a pale green background, depicting flowing garments and hints of figures. The lines are energetic and dynamic, suggesting movement. The figures are rendered in white, using strokes to suggest contours and folds in the fabric. Two ornate scroll shapes frame the central image, each containing inscriptions. The drawing conveys a rhythmic harmony in the arrangement of shapes and lines.

Media Options

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Artwork overview

  • Medium

    brown wash heightened with white on green prepared paper, cut, reassembled, and laid down

  • Credit Line

    Woodner Collection, Gift of Dian Woodner

  • Dimensions

    Overall: 40.9 x 24.8 cm (16 1/8 x 9 3/4 in.)
    support: 43.2 x 27 cm (17 x 10 5/8 in.)

  • Accession Number

    2016.127.1


Artwork history & notes

Provenance

An unidentified Florentine 16th-century collector, who had two portions of a larger sheet mounted together, with added console panels and inscriptions; John Clerk, Lord Eldin [1757-1832], Scotland; (sale, Edinburgh, Winstanley and Sons, 14-29 March 1833, no. 225, as Giotto); Sir Archibald Campbell [1769-1848], Argyll, Scotland; J. M. Campbell, Crarae, Argyllshire [d. 1967]; Sir Ilay Campbell [1927-2017]; (his sale, London, Christie's, 26 March 1974, no. 54, pls. 20, 21, as attributed to Taddeo Gaddi); purchased by Ian Woodner, New York; by inheritance to his daughters, Andrea and Dian Woodner, New York, 1990; by distribution to Dian Woodner; gift to the NGA, 2016.

Associated Names

Exhibition History

1953

  • Drawings by Bolognese and Other Masters Lent from a Glasgow Collection. Glasgow City Art Gallery, Glasgow, 1953, no. 41.

1976

  • Old Master Drawings from American Collections. Los Angeles County Museum of Art, Los Angeles, 1976, no. 2 (as attributed to Taddeo di Gaddo Gaddi)(cat. by Ebria Feinblatt).

1983

  • Master Drawings from the Woodner Collection. J. Paul Getty Museum, Malibu, Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth, and National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1983-84, no. 1 (as Taddeo Gaddi or his circle)(cat. by George Goldner).

1986

  • Meisterzeichnungen aus Sechs Jahrhunderten: Die Sammlung Ian Woodner. Haus der Kunst, Munich, and Albertina, Vienna, 1986, no. 1 (as Gaddi or Circle)(separate cats for each venue).

  • Dibujos de los siglos XIV al XX: Colección Woodner. Museo del Prado, Madrid, 1986-87, no. 1 (as Circle of Gaddi).

1987

  • Master Drawings: The Woodner Collection. Royal Academy of Arts, London, 1987, no. 1 (as Gaddi or Circle).

1990

  • Master Drawings from the Woodner Collection. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1990, no. 1 (as Gaddi or Circle).

1995

  • The Touch of the Artist: Master Drawings from the Woodner Collections. National Gallery of Art, Washington, 1995-1996, no. 2 (entry by Laurence B. Kanter).

2006

  • Master Drawings from the Woodner Collections. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., 2006 - 2007 (no cat.).

2017

  • The Woodner Collections: Master Drawings from Seven Centuries, NGA, 2017.

Bibliography

n.d.

  • Ward, Roger. "Master Drawings from the Woodner Collection, Washington, D.C." The Burlington Magazine 126, no. 973 (April 1984): 252 (under no. 1).

1968

  • Degenhart, Bernhard and Annegrit Schmitt. Corpus der Italienischen Zeichnungen, 1300-1450, I, Süd- und Mittelitalien. Berlin, 1968: part 1, pp. xxiv, 68-70, no. 25; part 3, pl. 50 (as Florentine c. 1340).

1974

  • Collobi, Licia Ragghianti. Il Libro de' Disegni del Vasari. 2 vols. Florence, 1974, 1: 28-29, 2: fig. 15 (as Florentine, end of the 14th Century).

1981

  • Gaigneron, Axelle de. "Les Nouveaux Choix de Mr. Woodner." Connaissance des Arts. 348 (February 1981): 76 (repro).

1983

  • Goldner, George. Master Drawings from The Woodner Collection. Santa Monica, CA, 1983 (exh. brochure), n.p., no. 1 (color).

1984

  • Russell, Francis. Review of Andrew Ladis, Taddeo Gaddi, 1982. The Royal Society of Arts Journal 132, no. 5332 (March 1984): 279 (as Gaddi).

1987

  • Melikian, Souren. "A Master Collector. Ian Woodner: An Eye for the Future." Art & Auction 10, no. 4 (November 1987): 85 (repro.).

1994

  • Russell, Francis. "Early Italian Pictures and Some English Collectors" The Burlington Magazine 136 (February, 1994): 85 (as Taddeo Gaddi).

Inscriptions

by later hand, center left in pen and brown ink in pasted console: Giotto / fiorenti / no; by later hand, center right in pen and brown ink in pasted console: mori l'anno / 1336, è sepol / to in Sta. / Maria / del fiore

Wikidata ID

Q64561974

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