Fontainebleau School - Lot 438

Fontainebleau School Ruggiero de Ruggieri (attributed to) (Bologna, circa 1515–1520 – Fontainebleau, between September 11, 1596, and January 28, 1597) Ulysses at Circe’s. Red chalk with white gouache highlights on pink-primed paper. Height: 16.6 cm Length: 26.6 cm Provenance: - Lanier in the center at the bottom and on the left, Lugt 2886; - London, Francis Abbot, his mark, Lugt 970; - unidentified collection, left corner, Lugt 1499; - Paris, private collection. Mounted edge-to-edge on an old backing with gilded and brown-washed strips, bearing Francis Abbott’s collection stamp, L. 970, in the lower right corner. The decoration of the “Chambre des Arts,” executed between 1555 and 1560 at the Château d’Ancy-le-Franc, is illustrated by seven compositions whose style bears obvious similarities to our drawing. According to experts, this wall decoration is attributed to Ruggiero de Ruggieri, while the vault decoration is believed to have been executed based on a design by Nicolò dell’Abate. Ruggiero de Ruggieri painted decorations for Catherine de’ Medici at the Hôtel de la Reine, later renamed the Hôtel Soissons, and this unpublished drawing may date from that project, around 1575.