Artibus et Historiae no. 61 (XXXI)
2010, ISSN 0391-9064Up
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LUCIANO BELLOSI - An Important Drawing by Liberale da Verona in the Uffizi
A beautiful pen drawing in the collection of the Gabinetto Disegni e Stampe of the Uffizi (inv. no. 1103 E) depicts Christ blessing (on the recto) and a Seraph with long wings reaching his feet (on the verso). The drawing has hitherto received little scholarly attention, but, for stylistic reasons, can be easily connected to two drawings, also executed in pen, in the collection of the Szépművészeti Múzeum in Budapest (inv. nos. 1767 and 1768). The Madonna and Child depicted in one of the Budapest drawings is no doubt a preparatory sketch for a painting of the same subject in the collection of the National Gallery in London (inv. no. 1134), a well-known work by Liberale da Verona from his late period. Therefore, the drawing from the Uffizi should be attributed to the great Veronese master of the Quattrocento. What is more, since the Seraph on the verso is a preparatory drawing for Liberale's fresco in the Bonaveri Chapel in Santa Anastasia church in Verona, executed in the early 1490s, it must have come from under Liberale's hand. The quality of the drawing in the Uffizi as well as of that in the Budapest museum is very high, confirming the high quality of Liberale's art in his late period.