Giovanni Mauro Della Rovere

Giovanni Mauro della Rovere, il Fiammenghino (Milan 1575-1640) A seated prophet, carrying a staff and book with inscription 'del la Rovere detto Fiammenghino' (recto) and 'fiamencino' (verso) black chalk, heightened with white, on faded blue paper, upper left corner made up 14½ x 10¼ in. (37 x 26 cm.), unframed Provenance Anonymous sale; Sotheby's, London, 8 July 1998, lot 47. Anonymous sale; Christie's, Paris, 21 March 2002, lot 43. Lot Notes This drawing is close in style and format to the sheets by Giovanni Mauro in the Resta collection, now in the Ambrosiana, Milan (G. Bora, I disegni del Codice Resta, Bologna, 1976, nos. 95-6, 156), and from the collection of Giuseppe Bossi at the Accademia, Venice (U. Ruggieri, Disegni Lombardi, Milan, 1982, no. 95).

Pen and brown ink and wash, heightened with white, over traces of black chalk, on blue paper; bears initials and date in pen and brown ink: G.M.R. 1619 Guinio and bears inscription on the mount: guinio and Ecole Lombarde; bears inscription on the back of the old mount: La chute de Simon le Magicien / a La plume Sur papier bleu Lavé a / l'encre de La Chine et rehausseé de blanc. Lomb PROVENANCE Van Parijs (L.2531 with number 115); R.W.P. de Vries (L.2786a); with Galerie Katrin Bellinger, Munich; acquired in 2002 EXHIBITED London, Katrin Bellinger at Harari and Johns, Master Drawings, 1990, no. 13, reproduced CATALOGUE NOTE Giovanni Mauro della Rovere was born to a family of Flemish artists working in Milan. He remained in the Lombard capital for most of his career, and his work reveals the influence of Giovanni Paolo Lomazzo and Ambrogio Figino. His style was well suited to the demands of Counter-Reformation art as promulgated by Cardinal Federico Borrommeo and he received numerous commissions throughout Lombardy. Della Rovere was also a prolific draughtsman and this drawing is characteristic of his style, with its distinctive handling of wash and white heightening. A drawing by the artist in the Albertina bears a similar inscription: GMR 1600 novembre. and another in Stockholm is inscribed on the verso: G.M.R. 1617 marzo 17.1 Such precise dates suggest that although the handwriting seems different, they may well be inscriptions by the artist himself. The story of Simon Magus was apparently recorded by St Cyril in the middle of the fourth century. A heretic who settled in Rome, Simon had great success in attracting followers; when Saints Peter and Paul arrived in Rome, they found he was flying through the air, proclaiming that he was being transported to Heaven. As a result of the Saints' intense prayers, the demons drawing Simon's chariot fled, whereupon he fell to his death. This drawing cannot be related to a recorded work by della Rovere, but it is interesting to note that Lomazzo included the scene in his frescoes for the decoration of the Foppa Chapel in San Marco, Milan. 1. See V. Birke and J. Kertész, Die Italienischen Zeichnungen der Albertina, Vienna 1995, vol. III, p. 1554, inv. no. 2788, reproduced; and P. Bjurström, Italian Drawings, Stockholm 1979, no. 292, reproduced

Giovanni Battista della Rovere, il Fiamminghino (Milan 1575-1640)
Pentecost
Add. Notes: black chalk, pen and brown ink, brown wash, on brown paper, minor losses 10 x 15 5/8 in. (255 x 396 mm.)
Notes: The present work was commissioned as an illustration for the story "A Kinsman of Red Cloud" by Owen Wister, which appeared in the May 1894 issue of Harper's Monthly.

pen and brown ink and wash, heightened with white, on blue paper this lot contains 1 item(s). provenance: sale, new york, sotheby's, 20 january 2000, lot 3 (as florentine school, second half of the 16th century) in the sotheby's sale catalogue, it was suggested that the figure types in this drawing are close to artists of vasari's circle such as zucchi and stradanus. mina gregori has since endorsed the re-attribution to della rovere, pointing out that the border is a typically lombard one, and making a comparison with a drawing in the galleria estense, modena (see jadranka bentini, disegni da una grande collezione, antiche raccolte estensi dal louvre e dalla galleria di modena, exh.cat., palazzo ducale di sassuolo, p.111, cat.38). the medium and the figure types are also characteristic of the artist.

Lot Description Giovanni Battista delle Rovere, il Fiammenghino (Milan circa 1575-circa 1640) Two angels appearing to a priest during mass black chalk, pen and brown ink, brown wash heightened with white on blue paper, circular 10 1/8 in. (258 mm.) diam. Provenance Probably Francesco Maria Nicoló Gabburri, with his inscription 'Dionisio Calvard Fiamingo' and numbering 'N. 160.' on the mount (cf. L. 2992b). Lot Notes Professor Giulio Bora has kindly confirmed the attribution on the basis of a photograph, in a communication dated 11 May 2002. Professor Bora notes that while Giovanni Battista certainly executed similar tondi, none of this subject is recorded.