Created while Federico was still under the tutelage of his elder brother Taddeo (1529-1566), this drawing was the model for one of the frescoes that decorated the façade of a house in the Piazza San Eustachio in Rome. Federico's draftsmanship, while less spirited than that of his brother, is admirable for a firmness, clarity, and refined naturalism that were well suited to the Counter-Reformation goal of presenting religious subjects in a direct and accessible manner. The Roman general is depicted at the moment when, during a hunting expedition, he sees the crucified Christ between the horns of a stag and is converted.
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Artwork Details
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Title:The Vision of Saint Eustace
Artist:Federico Zuccaro (Zuccari) (Italian, Sant'Angelo in Vado 1540/42–1609 Ancona)
Date:1542–1609
Medium:Point of brush with brown, gray, green, yellow, and red wash, highlighted with white, over traces of red and black chalk; lightly squared in black chalk
Dimensions:13 7/16 x 7 15/16in. (34.1 x 20.2cm)
Classification:Drawings
Credit Line:Rogers Fund, 1962
Accession Number:62.76
Inscription: Annotated in pen and brown ink at lower border of old mount in Richardson's hand, Fed. Zuccaro; and on reverse of old mount, Fece dunq. di colori in una facciata, La storia di Sant'Eustacbio, che, caccian: :do, vede frà le corna d'un cervio Giesù Christo crocifisso. Vasari vit. di Taddeo p. 114 / This is the First Picture that Federico did on his Own account, (He was now / 28 yr Old, having before allways work'd for, & with his Bro, Taddeo) at which / He was so Delighted, that, when Taddeo, considering that it was to be so much in the / Publick. View, as being on the Front of a Palace in a great Square, not only Over: / : Look'd it, but alterd or Corrected several Parts; He was so far Transported with / Jealousy; & perhaps with some reason, because (as Ly. Mary Wortley Mountague Sd /to M. Pope (as Himself told us)who was for altering some Verses of Hers that She / ask'd his Opinion of) He knew Whatever was Lik'd, would be said to be of Taddeo / when poor Federico's heart was sett on acquiring Credit for his Own Performance, / that, as soon as his Brother was gone, He defac'd All that He had done, & repaint: / :ed it with his Own Hand. However This was soon made up, as Taddeo was a / Reasonable Man, & Lov'd Him. See Vasari, Life of Taddeo, p. 114 Ed. Bot. / At this Early time of his Life He frequently us'd to Colour his Finish'd Drawings. ib.
Marking: The mark of Jonathan Richardson, Senior (Lugt 2184) is stamped on the lower right. Stamped on the lower right recto is the mark of Jonathan Richardson, Junior (Lugt 2170). Stamped in black, also on recto, at the lower left is the mark of Sir Joshua Reynolds (Lugt 2364). Illegible graphite annotations in German (?) are on the center of the backing. At the lower border of the backing in red ink: Lot 554.
Jonathan Richardson Sr. (British); Jonathan Richardson Jr. (British); Sir Joshua Reynolds (British)
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Italian Renaissance Drawings from New York Collections," November 9, 1965–January 9, 1966.
Milwaukee Art Museum. "Renaissance into Baroque: Italian Master Drawings by the Zuccari, 1550-1600," November 17, 1989–January 14, 1990.
National Academy Museum. "Renaissance into Baroque: Italian Master Drawings by the Zuccari, 1550-1600," March 13, 1990–April 29, 1990.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Drawings and Prints: Selections from the Permanent Collection," April 22–July 14, 2002.
J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles. "Taddeo and Federico Zuccaro: Artist-Brothers in Renaissance Rome," October 2, 2007–January 6, 2008.
Ottawa. National Gallery of Canada. "From Raphael to the Carracci: The Art of Papal Rome," May 29, 2009–September 6, 2009.
Jacob Bean "Form and Function in Italian Drawings: Observations on Several New Acquisitions." in The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, vol. 21, no. 7, New York, March 1963, p. 232, no. 5.
John Gere "Two panel-pictures by Taddeo Zuccaro II." in Burlington Magazine. September, vol. 105, 1963, p. 394, note 12.
Jacob Bean 100 European Drawings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York: New York Graphic Society, 1964, no. 26, repr.
Jacob Bean, Felice Stampfle Drawings from New York Collections, Vol. I: The Italian Renaissance. Exh. cat. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1965, p. 77, no. 40, ill.
John Gere Mostra di disegni degli Zuccari Exh. cat. Florence, Gabinetto Disegni e Stampe degli Uffizi. Florence, 1966, p. 27, under no. 29 (related to the drawing in the Uffizi inv. 11173F).
John Gere Il Manierismo a Roma. Ed. by Walter Vitzthum, I disegni dei maestri, no. 10, Milan, 1971, pl. 18.
Graham Smith The Casino of Pius IV. Princeton, 1977, p. 30, fig. 37, fig. no. 37.
Edward J. Olszewski, Jane Glaubinger The Draftsman's Eye: Late Italian Renaissance Schools and Styles. Exh. cat., Cleveland Museum of Art. March 6 - April 22, 1979. Cleveland, 1981, pp. 15, 16, 55, no. 81.
Jacob Bean, Lawrence Turčić 15th and 16th Century Italian Drawings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1982, pp. 268-69, no. 273, ill.
John Gere, Philip Pouncey Italian Drawings in the Department of Prints and Drawings in The British Museum. Vol. 5: Artists Working in Rome, c. 1550 to c. 1640. with the ass. of Rosalind Wood, London, 1983, p. 182.
James Mundy, Elizabeth Ourusoff De Fernandez-Gimenez Renaissance into Baroque: Italian Master Drawings by the Zuccari, 1550 - 1600 Exh. cat., Milwaukee Art Museum (November 17, 1989 - January 14, 1990), and National Academy of Design, New York (March 13 - April 29, 1990). Milwaukee., 1989, pp. 164-65, no. 48.
Giulia Fusconi "Sir Joshua Reynolds." Les dessin: Les grands collectionneurs. Turin, 1992, pp. 157-60, no. 182.
Giulia Fusconi, Simonetta Prosperi Valenti Rodinò, Annamaria Petrioli Tofani, Gianni Carlo Sciolla Il disegno: i grandi collezionisti. Turin, 1992, p. 161, fig. 182.
Iris Hofmeister Cheney "[Review] Renaissance into Baroque: Italian Master Drawings by the Zuccari 1550-1600" Master Drawings. Vol. 32, No. 1, 1994, p. 66.
Cristina Acidini Luchinat Taddeo e Federico Zuccari: Fratelli pittori del Cinquecento. 2 vols., Milan, Rome, 1999, Volume 1, pp. 111, 133 (note 56), repr.
Simonetta Prosperi Valenti Rodinò "Federico: inizi e autonomia." Der Maler Federico Zuccari. Ein römischer Virtuoso von eurpäischem Ruhm (Römisches Jahrbuch der Bibliotheca Hertziana). Ed. by Matthias Winner, and Detlef Heikamp, vol. 32 (1997-98), Rome, 1999, p. 17, fig. 4.
Julian Brooks Taddeo and Federico Zuccaro: Artist-Brothers in Renaissance Rome. Exh. cat. J. Paul Getty Museum, 2007, p. 52, no. 41.
David Franklin From Raphael to Carracci: The Art of Papal Rome. Exh. cat., The National Gallery of Canada, Ottawa. Ottawa, 2009, pp. 256-57, no. 71 (entry by Julian Brooks), ill.
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