Study of a Suckling Mother's Hand and Breast

Circle of: Orazio Samacchini (in circa 1500-1600)

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Specifications

Title	Study of a Suckling Mother's Hand and Breast
Material and technique	Black chalk
Object type	Drawing > Two-dimensional object > Art object
Location	This object is in storage

Dimensions	Height 208 mm Width 133 mm
Artists	Circle of: Orazio Samacchini Previously attributed: Sebastiano del Piombo
Accession number	I 387 (PK)
Credits	Loan Stichting Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen (former Koenigs collection), 1940
Department	Drawings & Prints
Acquisition date	1940
Creation date	in circa 1500-1600
Inscriptions	'jph'/'iph' (verso, pencil)
Collector	Collector / Franz Koenigs
Mark	F.W. Koenigs (L.1023a)
Provenance	Art dealer Julius W. Böhler (1883-1966), Lucerne; Franz W. Koenigs (1881-1941, L.1023a), Haarlem, acquired in 1929 (Sebastiano del Piombo); D.G. van Beuningen (1877-1955), Rotterdam, acquired with the Koenigs Collection in 1940 and donated to Stichting Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen
Exhibitions	Rotterdam 1997-98
Internal exhibitions	Rondom Raphaël (1997)
Research	Show research Italian Drawings 1400-1600
Material	Paper > Vegetable material > Organic material > Material > Material and technique Black chalk > Chalk > Artist's material > Material > Material and technique
Object	Drawing > Two-dimensional object > Art object
Geographical origin	Italy > Southern Europe > Europe
Place of manufacture	Rome > Italy > Southern Europe > Europe

Entry catalogue Italian Drawings 1400-1600

Author: Surya Stemerding

This drawing is probably a detail from a Maria lactans, a scene of the Virgin feeding the Christ Child. It is not entirely clear whether the fragment is intended to be vertical or horizontal, but if vertical it resembles a lactans scene by Liberale da Verona (c.1445-1526/1529) that is now in Vienna, in which the woman is holding a breast that is pointing off to the side.^[1] However, a more natural pose would be obtained by turning the sheet to a horizontal position with the arm coming in from the left, in which case the artist would be left-handed and thus a rarity.

The old attribution to Sebastiano del Piombo (c.1485-1547) is untenable, both stylistically and iconographically.^[2] The unnaturally long fingers with square tips display some similarity to those in three fragments of a fresco of the Visitation, now removed, that are now in the collection of the Duke of Northumberland. They are regarded as late works by Del Piombo,^[3] but are also reminiscent of the work of Francesco Salviati (1510-1563), and even more so of Orazio Samacchini (1532-1577), especially of his painting of a Maria lactans that is now in Modena.^[4]This drawing may have been made by an artist from his circle after an autograph model.

Footnotes

^[1]Albertina, inv. 17617.

^[2]Confirmed by Paul Joannides, orally, during a visit on 15 October 2007.

^[3]Alnwick Castle, inv. 03353/2-3; London 2017, nos. 55-57, ill.; dated c.1533-36. With thanks to Albert Elen for referring me to this comparison.

^[4]Galleria di BPER Banca, without inv. The painting changed hands in 2003 at sale, Milan (Porro & C.) 15 November 2003, lot no. 249, ill. on p. 183 of the catalogue.

Show research Italian Drawings 1400-1600

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