Investituur van kardinaal Giovanni de' Medici, 1492

After studio of Raphael

265

The entry of Cardinal Giovanni de' Medici into Florence

Verso: Four standing figures, including a priest

Pen and brown ink, brown wash, heightened with white, over traces of black chalk, on light tan paper prepared light brown. Framing line in pencil. Small tear, bottom centre (repaired).

Verso: Red chalk. Incised along the contours.

Inscribed on the verso, lower left: Rafello (pencil).

227 x 333 mm.

WATERMARK: Initial M.

CHAIN LINES: Illegible.

PROVENANCE: Christina of Sweden; Azzolini; Odescalchi; acquired in 1790 (L. 2392).

Inv. Libro di Disegni di Rafaele d'Urbino, c. 88 (`un Cardinale in habito, a cavallo, con molte figure: forse un Legato / Di dietro Aaron, o Melchisech, con tre altre figure'); inv. 1854: A 24 (Raphael, `vereering van eenen Kardinaal'); inv. 1864: A 96 (naar Raphael); inv. 1920: A* 34 (G.F. Penni).

INV.: A* 34.

BIBLIOGRAPHY: Oberhuber-Fischel, 1972, p. 140, under no. 452a (with erroneous inventory number); Birke and Kertész, I, 1992, p. 133, under no. 228 (idem).


Copy after the modello for the grisaille tapestry panel below the Stoning of Saint Stephen (Vatican Museums). The subject was identified by Shearman (1972, p. 84) as the ceremonious entry into Florence of cardinal Giovanni de' Medici, the future Pope Leo X, on March 10, 1492, the day after his investiture with the cardinalate in Fiesole.
The putative original is an extensively damaged drawing in the Ashmolean Museum (Parker, 1956, no. 665c; Oberhuber-Fischel, 1972, no. 452a, fig. 139). Other copies are mentioned in the Albertina (inv. 228, 229), Darmstadt, and the Uffizi, as well as in a private collection. The Louvre has a copy after the entire tapestry border (inv. 4013; Oberhuber-Fischel, 1972, fig. 140).
The fragmentary and unfinished scene on the verso appears to be copied after another (Raphaelesque?) composition, but its source has not been identified. The bearded man to the right, ticking off points with his fingers, derives from the similarly draped figure to the left in a drawing in the Albertina that has been connected with the Miraculous draught of fishes and is generally attributed to Giulio or Penni, c. 1515 (inv. 192; Knab, Mitsch and Oberhuber, 1983, fig. 103).