Lot Essay
This previously unpublished drawing is a modello for the 18th fresco of the Gallery of Ulysses at Fontainebleau, painted primarily by Primaticcio's assistant, Nicolò dell'Abbate
Destroyed in 1738, the Gallery of Ulysses was Primaticcio's greatest achievement as de facto 'Surintendant des Batiments': its construction and decoration spanned his career from 1537 to 1570. The fame of the gallery soon overshadowed the Gallery of François I of his predecessor, Rosso Fiorentino. It became a place of artistic pilgrimage; Poussin, according to Mariette 'ne connaissait rien de plus propre à former un peintre et à échauffer le génie' (P.J. Mariette, Abecedario, Paris, 1859, VI, Primatice). Rubens himself copied scenes from the gallery and set one of his students, Theodor van Thulden, the task of copying the whole cycle for an album of prints
published in 1633. A drawing by Rubens copied from the fresco related to the present drawing is in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam (fig. 1). The Rubens copy reveals that the fresco differed slightly from the drawing, such as the omission of the lioness below the steps and the alteration to the position of the head of the deer.
Dimier dated the execution of the modelli to the 1540s but Barocchi was the first to contest this view, which overlooked the information Vasari gives on the participation of Nicolò dell'Abbate in the execution of the frescoes. Nicolò did not arrive at Fontainebleau before 1552 and was immediately employed on the decoration of the ballroom, a project which interrupted work on the ceiling and walls of the Gallery until 1555. Nicolò dell'Abbate, records Vasari, 'Dopo quest'opera'...ha dipinto nella grand galleria pur con i disegni dell'abate de San Martin [Primaticcio], sessanta storie della vita e fatti d'Ulisse' (G. Vasari, Le Vite...., VII, [ed. Milanesi], 1878-85, p. 411). The drawing must therefore date from the period between 1555 and 1559 when decoration of the walls was finally under way.
The iconography of the gallery can also help in the dating of the present sheet. A tradition traced the French royal family back to -rancus, son of Hector. The Epics of Homer and more particularly the Iliad became a source of inspiration for courtiers. Originally, the Gallery was intended to celebrate Homer. Later, the emphasis on Ulysses and the Odyssey, rather than Hector and the Iliad, resulted as much from the discovery of the Odyssey by a group of young Hellenists, later known as La Pléiade, as from the useful political symbolism associated with Ulysses, emphasising legitimacy and rÿoyal struggle in times of hardship. These themes had become significant in a climate of religious unrest and even more so after the deaths of François I and Henri II.
The composition of the present drawing is a perfect synopsis of Book X of the Odyssey. Six episodes are represented. At the center of the composition Ulysses and his companions reach the island of Aiaia where tÿhe sorceress Circe lives. After two nights of rest, at dawn Ulysses goes hunting and kills a deer. This occupies the upper left corner of the drawing where Ulysses is seen carrying on his shoulders the deer back to his vessel. A banquet, served on board, follows which lasts the whole day. This is depicted in the foreground of the composition. Later Ulysses and his crew discover the Palace of Circe surrounded with lions and wolves, her victims. The sorceress invites the travellers to a banquet mixing into the food a drug which will erase from their minds any memory of their country. This scene occupies the upper right corner of the composition.
The importance of the architecture in the present drawing, as in many of the other modelli, has been a source of debate. In some of the sheets the architectural elements are absent (frescoes 46-54 and 56) while in others it seems that the figures have been drawn over the architecture. Dr. Walcher-Casotti considered that Jacopo Vignola had actually designed the architectural elements of the frescoes during his visit to Fontainebleau. Vasari records that Primaticcio called Vignola to Fontainebleau to 'servirsene nelle cose di archittetura' (G. Vasari, op. cit., VII, p. 106) and Danti states that he 'fece a quel re molti altri disegni di fabbriche che furono messi in opere e particolarmente i disegni e cartoni di prospettiva dove andavano historie del Primaticcio che nel Palazzo Fantana Bleo furono dipinti' (F. Danti, Le Due Regole della Prospettiva practica di M. Jacopo Barozzi di Vignola, Rome, 1583). In the present drawing, as with a number of others, the architectural elements have clearly been drawn with the aid of a ruler, but it seems inconceivable that this is by another hand. Vignola's involvement must have occured at an even earlier stage in the preparation of the frescoes. In some areas, such as the column base and the arcade at the right there are pentimenti, which suggest that Primaticcio was willing to modify the detail of Vignola's inventions in the light of his necessarily more pictorial concerns
Destroyed in 1738, the Gallery of Ulysses was Primaticcio's greatest achievement as de facto 'Surintendant des Batiments': its construction and decoration spanned his career from 1537 to 1570. The fame of the gallery soon overshadowed the Gallery of François I of his predecessor, Rosso Fiorentino. It became a place of artistic pilgrimage; Poussin, according to Mariette 'ne connaissait rien de plus propre à former un peintre et à échauffer le génie' (P.J. Mariette, Abecedario, Paris, 1859, VI, Primatice). Rubens himself copied scenes from the gallery and set one of his students, Theodor van Thulden, the task of copying the whole cycle for an album of prints
published in 1633. A drawing by Rubens copied from the fresco related to the present drawing is in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam (fig. 1). The Rubens copy reveals that the fresco differed slightly from the drawing, such as the omission of the lioness below the steps and the alteration to the position of the head of the deer.
Dimier dated the execution of the modelli to the 1540s but Barocchi was the first to contest this view, which overlooked the information Vasari gives on the participation of Nicolò dell'Abbate in the execution of the frescoes. Nicolò did not arrive at Fontainebleau before 1552 and was immediately employed on the decoration of the ballroom, a project which interrupted work on the ceiling and walls of the Gallery until 1555. Nicolò dell'Abbate, records Vasari, 'Dopo quest'opera'...ha dipinto nella grand galleria pur con i disegni dell'abate de San Martin [Primaticcio], sessanta storie della vita e fatti d'Ulisse' (G. Vasari, Le Vite...., VII, [ed. Milanesi], 1878-85, p. 411). The drawing must therefore date from the period between 1555 and 1559 when decoration of the walls was finally under way.
The iconography of the gallery can also help in the dating of the present sheet. A tradition traced the French royal family back to -rancus, son of Hector. The Epics of Homer and more particularly the Iliad became a source of inspiration for courtiers. Originally, the Gallery was intended to celebrate Homer. Later, the emphasis on Ulysses and the Odyssey, rather than Hector and the Iliad, resulted as much from the discovery of the Odyssey by a group of young Hellenists, later known as La Pléiade, as from the useful political symbolism associated with Ulysses, emphasising legitimacy and rÿoyal struggle in times of hardship. These themes had become significant in a climate of religious unrest and even more so after the deaths of François I and Henri II.
The composition of the present drawing is a perfect synopsis of Book X of the Odyssey. Six episodes are represented. At the center of the composition Ulysses and his companions reach the island of Aiaia where tÿhe sorceress Circe lives. After two nights of rest, at dawn Ulysses goes hunting and kills a deer. This occupies the upper left corner of the drawing where Ulysses is seen carrying on his shoulders the deer back to his vessel. A banquet, served on board, follows which lasts the whole day. This is depicted in the foreground of the composition. Later Ulysses and his crew discover the Palace of Circe surrounded with lions and wolves, her victims. The sorceress invites the travellers to a banquet mixing into the food a drug which will erase from their minds any memory of their country. This scene occupies the upper right corner of the composition.
The importance of the architecture in the present drawing, as in many of the other modelli, has been a source of debate. In some of the sheets the architectural elements are absent (frescoes 46-54 and 56) while in others it seems that the figures have been drawn over the architecture. Dr. Walcher-Casotti considered that Jacopo Vignola had actually designed the architectural elements of the frescoes during his visit to Fontainebleau. Vasari records that Primaticcio called Vignola to Fontainebleau to 'servirsene nelle cose di archittetura' (G. Vasari, op. cit., VII, p. 106) and Danti states that he 'fece a quel re molti altri disegni di fabbriche che furono messi in opere e particolarmente i disegni e cartoni di prospettiva dove andavano historie del Primaticcio che nel Palazzo Fantana Bleo furono dipinti' (F. Danti, Le Due Regole della Prospettiva practica di M. Jacopo Barozzi di Vignola, Rome, 1583). In the present drawing, as with a number of others, the architectural elements have clearly been drawn with the aid of a ruler, but it seems inconceivable that this is by another hand. Vignola's involvement must have occured at an even earlier stage in the preparation of the frescoes. In some areas, such as the column base and the arcade at the right there are pentimenti, which suggest that Primaticcio was willing to modify the detail of Vignola's inventions in the light of his necessarily more pictorial concerns