A pen and ink drawing after Taddeo Zuccaro’s drawing for the Sala dei Fatti Farnesiani in Palazzo Farnese at Caprarola.

In 1561, Cardinal Alessandro Farnese (1520-89) commissioned Taddeo Zuccaro to the decoration of his Palazzo at Caprarola completed by Jacopo Barozzi da Vignola (1507-73). On the piano nobile, Taddeo executed between 1561/62 and 1563 the decoration of the Sala dei Fatti Farnesiani with celebratory frescoes dedicated to the endeavours of the Farnese family.

This drawing is a copy after a preparatory study by Taddeo Zuccaro for the fresco with the solemn entry of Francis I of France with Emperor Charles V and Cardinal Alessandro Farnese in Paris in 1540. Cardinal Alessandro was the papal Legate and had a prominent political role in the relationship between the Empire and the reign of France during conflicts in the Church.

Taddeo studied the composition in a series of drawings before arriving at the final scene. A drawing in the Albertina (Inv. 643), squared, is possibly the model for the present copy. Another copy was sold on the London art market in 1966 (Yvonne Ffench). In the original drawing, Taddeo placed Francis I and Charles V under the state baldachin, which is traditionally entitled only to rulers. In the fresco, by employing a clever arrangement of the carrying poles, Cardinal Alessandro appears with the parade of nobility under the canopy in a compacted whole. In the fresco, Taddeo executed real life portraits of the historical figures. The three pages who carry the canopy have been identified as portraits of the members of the Zuccaro family, Taddeo on the right, Federico on the left and the third figure has been identified as their father Ottaviano or their relative Antenore Ridolfi. In the preparatory drawing, however, the carriers’ features are still those of general types and the figure of Cardinal Alessandro has been only sketched.

The present drawing is more broadly drawn and is less detailed than the drawing in the Albertina, suggesting that this is the work of a copyist.