Antiquity and Theory

U 32A recto and verso

An T onio DA S A ng A llo T he Younger Rome, St Peter’s, details of a column, ca. 1535–46 (recto), Sketches of a composite capital, 1535–46 (verso).

Dimensions 287 × 220 mm. Technique Pen and brown ink.

Paper Lightweight, horizontal and vertical folds, perforated in places.

i nscri PT ion , Recto (top half) Di Santo pietro ; lo tutto alto 1 65 ; Tutto 1 65 ; Colla misura del mo dello che l minuto si è per due di quali di 5 per dito ; (lower half, bottom edge) Misurato colle misure […] / modello ch ogni minuto per dito di que 10 di dito ; tutto 3 95 ; Tutta 7 88 ; (lower left) in una te [ ] de / delli [ ]rmo giallo di S.to pietr [ ] ; cinquantamilia cinquanta 71

Verso Di questo capitello me stato mozzo minuti 3 / me stato mo zzo M 3 ; rivedere l’agetto dell’ovolo li membri della cimasa ; la di sotto del capitello 142 / la colonna da pie 1466

The drawing on the recto shows details of the columns, including a sketch of the composite capital (a) ; a study of the volute (b and c) ; and decorations on the base of another column(?) (d ). The latter sketch was executed by turning the sheet 90 degrees ; it may have been made at a different time than the two details for the column in St Peter’s and thus may be unrelated to it. On the lower half of the sheet are sketches of the shaft (e) and the profile of the base ( f ) ; these two drawings were executed by turning the sheet 180 degrees. The notes suggest that the shaft of the column, of which approximately two thirds was fluted, was to be made of giallo antico marble. However, as evinced by the many calculations on the sheet, Antonio seemed to have been more interested in the relationship between the measurements, so that he could study the proportions of the composite column. The elegant capital is a fine composite example as Giovan Francesco da Sangallo stated in a note on u 1804 A v. (which might be a copy of u 32 A r.), for which there are studies both here and on the verso ; it would appear to have been used as a model for the capitals of the Ducal Palace in Urbino and by Baldassarre Peruzzi for those on the tomb of Pope Hadrian VI in S. Maria dell’Anima. In general, Antonio was not much interested in such richly decorated composite capitals, which, as Pagliara (1992, Ordini, p. 149) has observed, he thought more appropriate for interiors ; he employed similar capitals on fluted pilasters in the Serra Chapel at S. Giacomo degli Spagnoli in Rome.

The sketches on the verso of a composite capital relate to those on the recto of the sheet. Here Antonio drew a good representation of the capital with a measured profile, and next to it a three-quarter view of another profile, in order to study the volutes, which are placed at 45 degrees. The latter scheme was also adopted by Giovan Francesco for u 1804 A , his fair copy of the same capital in St Peter’s that was sketched on the recto of this sheet, u 32 A , by Antonio. However, the survey sketches made on site by Antonio were redrawn in fair copy at the drawing table by his cousin Giovan Francesco. | A gg b ibliogr AP h Y Ferri (1885) 130, 150–51 ; Bartoli (1914–22) iv: figs 351–52, pl. 210 ; vi : 67 ; CensusIDs 10014116, 10070230.

U 184A recto and

Verso

GiovA nni B ATT is TA DA S A ng A llo the architectural drawings of ANTONIO

Rome, Ancient basins at S. Pietro in Vincoli and at S. Marco (recto). Plan related to projects for Medici tombs at S. Maria Sopra Minerva (verso), prior to 1536.