Old Master Cristoforo Roncalli found!

One of the daily rituals at Wright Gallery Fine Art is to scour auction sites worldwide for possible purchases, recently we found this drawing hidden away with its authorship listed as artist unknown. Intrigued, we requested more detailed photographs and further information but there was little else known about the drawing. But, we had a hunch that it could possibly be by Cristoforo Roncalli (Italian 1552-1626) and we were fortunate enough to purchase the drawing.

Once it arrived in the gallery we thoroughly inspected the drawing and felt vindicated that there was a strong possibility that it was indeed by Roncalli. Further research began and we discovered that interestingly the drawing once had an attribution to Lambert Lombard (Flemish 1505-1566). Then it subsequently lost the attribution and gained the title “Allegory with female figure and putto”.

In our eyes, the drawing had all of Roncalli's hallmarks. It was typical of his draughtsmanship, and use of both sanguine and black chalks. The laid paper sheet was also cut down as it was probably a section of a larger composition.

Raphael's works were then researched as this is where Roncalli often drew inspiration. We then discovered this to be a study of Raphael's fresco titled “The Wedding Banquet of Cupid and Psyche” which is at the Villa Farnesina in Rome. Interestingly the drawing has been later censored in pencil over the putto’s genitals, the culprit was most likely a 19th-century hand. The fresco can be seen in its full context here www.abourtart.com/post/the-loggia-of-cupid-and-psyche (middle image top row).

Armed with our evidence and new information we approached the world-renowned Professor Herwarth Röttgen regarding his scholarly opinion on the drawing, of which he confirmed the attribution.

This old master drawing has now found its true identity, Cristoforo Roncalli (Italian 1552-1626), its inspiration, Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino (Italian 1483-1520) and its title Part Study for “The Wedding Banquet of Cupid and Psyche”  after Raphael.

The practice of buying sight unseen, often with scant and sometimes misleading information, coupled with poor photography is always a risk in the world of online purchases. Fortunately, we have established a relationship with a majority of our suppliers that mitigate these risks and this indeed resulted in a happy outcome!

Cristoforo Roncalli (Italian 1552-1626)

Raphael - The Wedding Banquet of Cupid and Psyche