Collection J. Pierpont Morgan : drawings by the old masters formed by C. Fairfax Murray. London : Privately printed, 1905-1912, I, 265, repr. (as French School, 16th cent.)
Possibly after a work by Jean de Gourmount.
This roundel has been long associated with Morgan's drawings by the artist now referred to as the Master JG, a printmaker active in Lyon in the 1520s. The tablet in the foreground, however, contains a monogram with the interlocking initials "AV" (or "AA") that has not yet been identified, suggesting another artist active in the orbit of the Master JG, Pierre Reverdy, and the Master CC, all of whom produced similar round compositions with biblical subjects set in densely columned and arcaded architecture. The artist responsible for the Morgan sheet was likely active in Lyon alongside or after this initial cohort of printmakers.
Curiously the drawing is trimmed along the contour of the architecture at top, and may have not been intended as a roundel given the close cropping near the figures. The foreground tablet bearing the artist's monogram was a device also favored by the Master JG and the Master CC.
Anonymous, French School, 16th cent., Formerly attributed to.
Gourmont, Jean de, active 1506-1522, After, Formerly attributed to.
Halsband, Robert, 1914-1989, donor.
Mayor, William, 1826-1892, former owner.