Lot 115: PIER FRANCESCO MAZZUCCHELLI, IL MORAZZONE

PIER FRANCESCO MAZZUCCHELLI, IL MORAZZONE MORAZZONE 1573 - 1625/6 (?) THE ADORATION OF THE MAGI Pen and brown ink and brown and grey wash over black chalk; bears old numbering lower right in brown ink: g:de/37 and inscription at the top: hadorazione/Magi 240 by 375 mm

The attribution of this previously unknown drawing has been proposed by Giulio Bora, who suggests that it is preparatory, with many differences, for one of Morazzone's paintings in the Collegiata di Santa Maria Vergine in Arona. The cycle consisted originally of seven canvasses with scenes from the life of the Virgin. One of them was replaced at an early stage by a painting by Nuvolone. The recent discovery of a document, dated January 1603, in which Morazzone ratifies his commitment to execute the paintings for the Collegiata, has helped to clarify the dating of the cycle. A further drawing for the same composition, but closer to the final version, was sold in these Rooms, 4 July 2007, lot 52 (now in a private collection).

The present study, a first idea for the final composition, indicates a strong stylistic link with artists working in Rome towards the end of the century, such as Ventura Salimbeni and Cavalier d'Arpino. They were highly influential during Morazzone's apprenticeship in Rome where he arrived by 1592. In the past, other studies by Morazzone have been incorrectly attributed to Salimbeni; for instance, two studies in the Nationalmuseum, Stockholm, correctly identified by Nicholas Turner.υ1 The discovery and attribution of this drawing adds another element to our knowledge of this very interesting and important commission, and clarifies the formation and development of the style of Morazzone, who was one of the most original artists active in Lombardy in the seventeenth century.

1. N. Turner, 'Some Unpublished Drawings by Morazzone', Master Drawings, vol. 22, no. 4, 1984, pp. 426-30, illus. pls. 23-4