Detail from 'The Fall of the Giants'

Author: Klazina Botke

This drawing is a copy of the famous fresco The Fall of the Giants by Perino del Vaga (Piero di Giovanni Bonaccorsi, 1501-1547) in the Palazzo del Principe in Fassolo near Genoa (fig.). The palace was built as a private residence for the Genoese Prince-Admiral Andrea Doria (1466-1560), and between 1528 and 1533 it was decorated by Perino and others with large fresco scenes. A preliminary study for the entire composition of The Fall of the Giants has survived and is in Princeton.^[1] In it, Perino depicted the power struggle between the giants and the gods of Olympus, as described by Ovid (43 BC-17 AD) in the Metamorphoses (ll. 151-55). Jupiter can be seen in the centre of the composition, fighting with his lightning bolt and surrounded by the other gods. In the middle of the sixteenth century the story was often linked to the victories of Holy Roman Emperor Charles V (1550-1558) over the Protestants. That might also have been the case here, given that the decorated rooms were created at Doria’s instruction in anticipation of the visit by Charles V to Genoa in 1533.^[2]

Perino’s daring compositions and unique style were admired during his lifetime as well as in the following centuries. The fresco The Fall of the Giants was therefore copied many times and became even better known as a result of the print (L 1970/56), which came into circulation shortly after the fresco had been completed; it might have been made after the preparatory drawing by Perino.^[3] Furthermore, artists were given access to the palace so that they could study the frescoes with their own eyes. They were interested in the entire composition, but copied specific parts of it too.^[4] Our drawing, like a sheet in Florence, is a copy of the upper right corner containing a group of seven gods sitting on a cloud, with four angels in the foreground.^[5]

The study is readily comparable with two sheets that have been attributed to the Genoese painter Giulio Benso; one of them is currently in the Zerbone Collection in Genoa, and the other is in a private collection.^[6] Benso’s characteristic style reflects the influence of both his teacher, Giovanni Battista Paggi (1554-1627), and the Genoese artist Luca Cambiaso (1527-1585). In fact, Cambiaso’s impact is so clear that our sheet was even attributed to him by Philip Pouncey in 1962.^[7] Benso’s striking drawing style, with short strokes in pen and ink, emerges clearly in the three drawings. All three sheets moreover have a copy after Perino’s fresco on one side and an invention of the artist on the other. Our drawing therefore appears to have been part of a small group of works that Benso produced after the fresco. It seems almost certain that he had access to the palace since his patron was the art collector and prominent family member Giovanni Carlo Doria (1576-1625).