Francesco Primaticcio

A previously unknown study, this refined drawing is preparatory for the first compartment of Primaticcio's vault,¹ part of the famous destroyed decoration of the Galerie d'Ulysse, at the château of Fontainebleau, south of Paris. Another, related drawing by Primaticcio with the same composition, very similar in size but executed in the different media of pen and ink heightened with white, is in the Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.²

Comparing the two drawings, as one might expect given the different media the artist has used in each case, the present sheet is more subtlety modelled and finished than the version in the Rijksmuseum, and it also has a number of interesting pentimenti, most notably all along the contours of Mercury’s raised right arm, on the side of his chest just below this, and on his left shoulder. Also, Mercury's left elbow is here placed further forward than in the sheet in the Rijksmuseum, in relation to the vertical line, drawn behind to the right, which defines part of the space of this section of the decoration. The execution of the Rijksmuseum drawing is, in contrast, less detailed and shows no pentimenti, and it must be that this newly discovered sheet is the prima versione for that composition.

Both drawings must date to the period between 1541 and 1547, when Primaticcio was working on this part of the extraordinary Fontainebleau decorations. Seeking work, Primaticcio had moved to France in 1532, at the invitation of King François I. The King had initiated a programme of spectacular redevelopments at Fontainebleau in 1528, and work on the Galerie d'Ulysse began in 1536-37, initially under the direction of Rosso Fiorentino. After Rosso’s death in 1540, Primaticcio took over responsibility for the decorations, on which he worked until his own death three decades later. He was assisted in the execution of the frescoes by several artists, but was ultimately solely responsible for the whole scheme.

The programme for the elaborate decoration of the monumental gallery, 155 metres long and divided into fifteen compartments, may have been designed as early as 1541-43, though the actual decoration probably only started in 1546, when Primaticcio returned from Italy. The vault was close to completion in 1550 when the work was paused for the decoration of the Salle de Bal, but it was resumed five years later, and finally finished in 1570.

The celebrated gallery was, however, destroyed in 1738, and our knowledge of the iconography of this extraordinary achievement depends today upon surviving preparatory studies, such as the present sheet, and on later drawings and prints recording the finished works, as well as written descriptions by awestruck visitors.

The present sheet bears an early watermark with a pot or a jug, surmounted by a flower. Though, we have not been able to find a precise match, various 'pot' watermarks of this type are often found in drawings from the School of Fontainebleau. In some cases, these marks come with associated lettering, sometimes giving the names of papermakers from Troyes, a major paper-making centre not far from Fontainebleau.³

^1.For a reconstruction of the first bay see, Sylvie Beguin et al., La galerie d'Ulysse à Fontainebleau, Paris 1985, pp. 129-132

^2.Amsterdam, Rijksmuseum, inv. no. RP-T-1887-A-1405

^3.Louis Le Clert, Le Papier. Recherches et notes pour servir à l'histoire du Papier, principalement à Troyes et aux environs depuis le quatorzième siècle, 2 vols, Paris 1927