Plan your visit. 225 Madison Avenue at 36th Street, New York, NY 10016.

Plan your visit. 225 Madison Avenue at 36th Street, New York, NY 10016.

Two Horses' Heads

Italian School
16th century

Two Horses' Heads

ca. 1555-1575
3 15/16 x 5 3/4 inches (100 x 146 mm)
Red chalk on laid paper.
1956.22

Gift of Hall Park McCullough..

Notes
Formerly attributed to Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519), circle of; Giorgio Vasari (1511-1574); Francesco Morandini, il Poppi (1544-1597).
Description

While in the collection of Johann Török, and at the time of his 1928 sale, the sheet was assigned to the circle of Leonardo da Vinci.1 More recently, Paul Joannides ascribed the drawing to Giorgio Vasari, adding that it reveals the influence of Vasari’s friend Francesco Salviati (unpublished opinion recorded in the curatorial file, 2004). Alternatively, Joannides suggested a possible attribution to Francesco Morandini, called il Poppi. Both Vasari 2 and Poppi3 made comparable studies of horse heads seen from multiple angles, although these were executed in black chalk.

Footnotes:

  1. Vienna 1927, 3, no. 2 (as school of Leonardo da Vinci); American Art Association, New York 1928, lot 154 (as atelier of Leonardo da Vinci).
  2. Louvre, Paris, inv. 2757; Härb 2015, 469, no. 301.
  3. Uffizi, Florence, inv. 4283F, 4284F; Comune di Poppi 1991, 148-49, nos. 91, 92.
Inscriptions/Markings
Watermark: none.
Associated names
Anonymous, Italian School, 17th cent., Formerly attributed to.
Leonardo, da Vinci, 1452-1519, Circle of, Formerly attributed to.
Vasari, Giorgio, 1511-1574, Formerly attributed to.
Morandini, Francesco, 1544-1597, Formerly attributed to.
Grahl, August, 1791-1868, former owner.
Schwarz, Ignaz, former owner.
König, Wilhelm, former owner.
Török, Johann, Bishop, -1892, former owner.
McCullough, Hall Park, 1872-1966, former owner.
Bibliography
Selected references: Vienna 1919, 25, no. 224 (as Milanese, 16th century); Vienna 1927, 3, no. 2 (as school of Leonardo da Vinci); Fellows Report 1957, 83.
Classification
Century Drawings
School
Department