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1 of 253523 objects
The goddesses of fruit and agriculture, and a personfication of summer c. 1590
Black chalk, pen and ink, wash and white heightening, on paper washed yellow | 35.5 x 27.5 cm, top corners cut (sheet of paper) | RCIN 904989
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A drawing of the figures of Pomona (goddess of fruit), Estate (personification of summer) and Ceres (goddess of agriculture) in an arched field. Inscribed in the artist’s hand at the lower edge: ‘POMONA ESTATE CERERE / Le sopra II figure sera circha piedi 31 epiu secondo vi parera voi che sete sulopera sula infraschedura vi potete sbezerir' (loosely, ‘The above II[?] figures will be about 31 feet [high], or more, as seems best to you when you are at work. You may do it as you fancy when you are on the scaffolding').
The drawing is a final study for a fresco above the fireplace in the Sala Rossa of the Villa Nichesola-Conforti, Ponton di Sant'Ambrogio in Valpolicella, Verona (see F. Pietropoli in Paolo Farinati. Dipinti, incisioni e disegni per l'architettura, 2005, pp. 237-41). The fresco forms part of a decorative cycle in three rooms of the villa, carried out by Paolo Farinati and his sons around 1590, celebrating the abundance of the summer months (when the villa would have been occupied). Farinati clearly considered the specific architectural details that would surround the present design, sketching columns in the lower register of the sheet, and adding a thick wash arch above the figures; notches drawn in regular intervals along the sheet and remains of white chalk squaring suggest that the sheet was prepared for transfer.
The sheet is inscribed on the verso in the hand of William Gibson with his price mark: P. Farinato 9.1. / 8.1. Gibson's inscriptions and characteristic price codes can be found on fourteen of the forty-seven drawings by Paolo Farinati and his followers in the Royal Collection.Provenance
William Gibson (his price mark; probably acquired by Charles II. Listed in George III's 'Inventory A,' c.1800-20, p. 117, Paolo Farinati
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Creator(s)
Acquirer(s)
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Medium and techniques
Black chalk, pen and ink, wash and white heightening, on paper washed yellow
Measurements
35.5 x 27.5 cm, top corners cut (sheet of paper)
Other number(s)
Alternative title(s)
Pomona, Cerere and Estate