Kupferstich-Kabinett: A Wider View

helle Wand mit drei gerahmten Kupferstichen

A Wider View

Currently, a project to index and catalog the Italian drawings of the 16th century is in progress at the Kupferstich-Kabinett, generously funded by the Getty Foundation as part of the initiative “The Paper Project: Prints and Drawings Curatorship in the 21st Century.”

In the exhibition “Anselmi to Zuccari. Master Drawings from the Hoesch Collection” (June 10 – September 11, 2022), some of the sheets being researched within the project are on display as well. In addition, we alternately present individual works or groups of works. They provide insights into the state of research and, at the same time, make further connections to the drawings in the exhibition.

Detailaufnahme von Kupferstichen — **Installation view of the exhibition "Anselmi to Zuccari. Master Drawings from the Hoesch Collection"**

A WIDER VIEW #5

Drawings for Prints?
August 24 - September 11, 2022

The last round revolves around Jacopo Negretti, called Palma il Giovane (Venice, ca. 1550–1628), the most prolific draftsman in 16th-century Venice. Initially attributed to other artists, the drawings presented here have recently been (re-)connected to Palma and they are more or less directly related to prints. Joseph and Potiphar’s Wife is quite close to a study Palma made for the etching Venus and Adonis by Giacomo Franco; Monks in a Landscape is the preparatory drawing for the first plate of Paolo Bozzi's devotional pamphlet Tebaide Sacra. The – most likely Dutch – etching is likely after Palma's Mars and Venus surprised by Vulcan. The last example shows how artists’ compositions could migrate across countries and media.

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**Jacopo Palma il Giovane, Joseph and Potiphar's Wife, 16th/17th century**

A WIDER VIEW #4

Tender is the Night
August 3 - August 22, 2022

Already in ancient Greece, the motif of a woman cradling two sleeping infants in her arms was read as a personification of the Night with her two sons, Death and Sleep. In the works shown here, these allegorical figures are set against a wide landscape under a starry sky. Scholars believe the rectangular drawing is Annibale Carracci’s (Bologna 1560–1609 Rome) study for a painting made around 1602/3 for the Farnese family palace in Rome (now in Chantilly, Musée Condé). The rounded copy attributed to Francesco Albani (Bologna 1578–1609) and the etching by Francesco Bartolozzi (Florence 1727–1815 Lisbon) testify for the popularity of this subject.

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**Francesco Albani, attributed, after Annibale Carracci?, early 17th century**

A WIDER VIEW #3

Fill your Frame
July 13 – August 1, 2022

For the third series, we present three examples of historical collector’s mounts with decorative frames. Besides providing hints to the attribution, they offer insights into the provenance, as well as the appreciation of the drawings. The plain borderlines in dark brown watercolour surrounding the Two Angels by an unknown master can be traced back to the Van Parijs collection; in the case of the Mountain Landscape made by a follower of Paul Bril, the question arises as to whether the decorative frame might come from the famous Libro dei Disegni by Giorgio Vasari. The collector who had a Kneeling Monk framed with lines in black ink and blue-grey watercolour has not yet been identified.

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**Unknown, Kneeling Monk (Saint Francis Receiving the Stigmata?)**

A WIDER VIEW #2

Amici ritrovati
June 29 – July 11, 2022

The second series deals with Amico Aspertini (Bologna 1473/75–1552) whose works exhibit a complex, eclectic style that anticipates Mannerism. Even though they are quite different both in terms of technique and the subjects depicted, the four drawings presented here give a fine impression of this: an Amorous Struggle and an Amorous Scene between a Nereid and Triton, Four nude men and an Offering Scene. The four sheets all found their way into the Kupferstich-Kabinett under the names of other artists and were only attributed to Aspertini at a later date – or even very recently.

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**Amico Aspertini, Four Nude Men in Various Positions, ca. 1521**

A WIDER VIEW #1

Pontormo! Pontormo?
June 10 – June 27, 2022

The first series revolves around Jacopo Pontormo (Pontorme 1494–1557 Florence), one of the main representatives of Florentine Mannerism. With the powerful study of a kneeling man for the Ruffillo altarpiece, the Kupferstich-Kabinett possesses one of the early masterworks in the extensive graphic œuvre of the artist. In addition, we are presenting two figural studies of a Saint Bartholomew and a Nude seen from behind, for which Pontormo’s authorship has been questioned, or newly proposed, in recent times.

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