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| PIETRO BUONACCORSI, called PERINO DEL VAGA (Florence 1501-1547 Rome)
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| Studies for the Crossing of the Red Sea
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Pen and brown ink, corners cut
195 x 207 mm
PROVENANCE:
G. Münch (Lugt 1830)
sale Sotheby's, London, 8.12.1972, lot 21 (ill.)
According to Vasari, Perino painted the subject of The Crossing of the Red Sea in the record time of a single night and day as a gift for his friend Ser Raffaele di Sandro after a short sojourn in Florence at Ser Raffaele's home in 1522-23 [1]. It was only a brief visit because Perino hastened on for fear of the plague which was raging in Florence in 1523. The painting, which Ser Raffale bequeathed to his nephew, is now in the Uffizi [2]. It is clearly indebted to Perino's previous experience in Rome, where he had assisted Giulio Romano and Raphael with the decoration of the logge in the Vatican. Similar to the basamenti of the logge, it is painted a monochrome golden brown colour in imitation of a bronze bas relief, a technique which was quite in vogue for decorating the façades of Roman palaces. The subject also occurs on the vault of the eighth bay of the logge, which is dedicated to the life of Moses [3].
If Vasari is to be believed, this preparatory sketch for The Crossing of the Red Sea must date from the same night and day of feverish activity in 1523. The group at the lower left shows the Israelites settled on the shore in comfortable safety after their successful crossing and ready to watch the spectacle of the demise of Pharaoh's army before them. The figure of Moses, recognizable by the horns on his forehead, who seems to be tending to a child, is given a more distinguished role in the painting where he stands upright, in profile to the right, apparently directing the sea.
1. Vasari, ed. Milanesi, Le vite de´ più eccelenti pittori scultori ed architettori, Florence 1878-1885, vol V, p.607. For the painting see also: Elena Parma Armani, Perino del Vaga, "L´anello mancante", Genoa 1986, p.53, fig. 45
2. Parma Armani, op.cit., p.338, cat.no. DI
3. Nicole Dacos, Le Logge di Raffaello. Rome 1977, p.183, pl. XXXIIIa
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