Attributed to Alessandro Vellutello

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Inferno, Canto XI - XII. Virgil and Dante, at Upper Left, Before the Tomb of Pope Anastasius; Their Meeting with the Minotaur; Their Descent to the Phlegethon (River of Boiling Blood); Their Meeting with the Centaurs, Who Guard the Damned and Punish Them with Arrows; Chiron Gives Them as a Guide the Centaur Nessus; Dante and Virgil Are Carried by Nessus and Together They Cross the Phlegethon Where the Tyrants are Immmersed in Blood According To The Degree of Their Guilt; Virgil, Dante and Nessus Reach the Middle. At top, a town. Verso: Bell or Hat?

Pen and brown ink on paper.

8 1/8 x 11 inches (207 x 280 mm)

Gift of Mr. H.P. Kraus.

1966.12:5

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Notes:

Watermark: none.
Formerly attributed to Italian School, 16th cent.

Inscription:

Inscribed by the artist in pen and brown ink, on the grave, at upper left, "Anastasio"; below this, "Minotauro"; on the right, "neso; neso; chirone; folo"; below this, in the lake, "alessandro; dionisio; azolino; obizo; guido da mote"; throughout, labelling the figures, "neso; V[ergil]; D[ante]"; below this, "flegetonte fiumicello di sangue che bolle"; below this, as labels for figures, "attila; pirro; rinier da corneto; sesto / nerone; [ri]nier pazzi"; at upper center, "dove e piu fondo...(?)... ciglio / fino alla gola / fino al petto / fino alla cintola / IRACONDI / fino al ginocchio / fino sopra al piede"; along the curve of the lake, at right, "Lago di sangue che bolle e quelli che piu escono del termine son saettati da centauri"; along the lower edge, "...fiumicello...sangue che bolle di sottoterra da la [citta] Dite chiamasi flegetonte chi atraversa quel lago e ancÖ"; in upper right corner, "SETII (?) / palude"; below this, right of center, "SETTIMO CERCHIO / distinto in 3 gironi / palude bosco e rena".

Provenance:

J. I. Davis, London; H. P. Kraus (1907-1988), Vienna and New York, by whom presented to the Pierpont Morgan Library in 1966.

Associated names:

Anonymous, Italian School, 16th cent., Formerly attributed to.
Davis, J. Irving, 1889-1967, former owner.
Kraus, Hans Peter, 1907-1988, former owner.
Dante Alighieri, 1265-1321, Divina Commedia.

Bibliography:

Rhoda Eitel-Porter, "Drawings for the Woodcut Illustrations to Alessandro Vellutello's 1544 Commentary on Dante's Comedia", Print Quarterly, XXXVI, March 2019, pp. 3-17
Matthew Collins, "The Forgotten Morgan Dante Drawings, Their Influence on the Marcolini Commedia of 1544, and Their Place within a Visually-Driven Discourse on Dante's Poem," Dante Studies 136 (2018): 93-132.
Lamberto Donati, "Commento ad una serie di disegni del XVI secolo illustranti la Divina Commedia", La Bibliofilia, LXV, 1963, fig. 7.
Adams, Frederick B., Jr., ed. Fifteenth Report to the Fellows of the Pierpont Morgan Library, 1967 & 1968. New York : Pierpont Morgan Library, 1969, p. 91-92.
Pierpont Morgan Library. Review of Acquisitions, 1949-1968. New York : Pierpont Morgan Library, 1969, p. 150.

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Vellutello, Alessandro

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