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1 of 253523 objects
Recto: Studies of Cupid and Psyche, and male nudes. Verso: Holy Family with the infant St John the Baptist c.1580-90
Pen and ink over red chalk | 28.0 x 21.5 cm (sheet of paper) | RCIN 906961

Giovanni Ambrogio Figino (1548/51-1608)
Recto: Studies of Cupid and Psyche, and male nudes. Verso: Holy Family with the infant St John the Baptist c.1580-90

Giovanni Ambrogio Figino (1548/51-1608)
Recto: Studies of Cupid and Psyche, and male nudes. Verso: Holy Family with the infant St John the Baptist c.1580-90


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Recto: A large and two smaller studies of Psyche awakening Cupid, several separate studies of Cupid and of Psyche, one copy of Titian's Venus of Urbino, two studies of male nudes. Verso: A study of the Holy Family with the infant St John the Baptist.
On the recto a large and two small studies show Psyche awakening Cupid. Cupid is shown in the moment of waking up from a small drop of oil that fell from Psyche’s oil lamp on his body. Figino tested different arrangements of the two figures to each other. Next to this full composition there are studies for the single figures of Psyche and Cupid. For further studies of Psyche and Cupid by Figino in the Royal Collection see RCINs 906943v, 906945v and 906960r. The composition on this sheet represents the most complex and detailed one. A small copy of Titian's reclining Venus of Urbino, now at the Uffizi in Florence, is positioned in top right corner and might have served as a source of inspiration for the reclining figure of Cupid. Two studies for a male figure on the right and left edge of the sheet cannot be related to the above mentioned composition.
On the verso a full study of the Holy Family with St John the Baptist is drawn. Interestingly, the combination of studies for Psyche and Cupid on one side of the sheet and a study of the Virgin with Christ and infant St John can be found in RCIN 906960, too. For further studies of the Virgin and Christ with St John the Baptist see RCINs 906942v, 906957, 906958r, 906960v and 906959rv.
Inscribed in pen at lower left: No 90Provenance
Bequeathed by the artist to Ercole Bianchi in 1608; in the collection of Consul Joseph Smith by 1755; purchased by George III in 1762. Recorded in 'Inventory A', p. 117: '110 Mostly sketches after the Old Masters Raphael, Michel Angelo &c.a.'
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Medium and techniques
Pen and ink over red chalk
Measurements
28.0 x 21.5 cm (sheet of paper)