Judith W.

Mann and Babete Bohn

With Carol Plazzota
Saint Louis Art Museum
Yale University Press, New Haven and London
FEDERICO BAROCCI
Renaissance Master of Color and Line
54 Babette Bohn
fnished small cartoon he ever produced.
124
Tis drawing on
ocher-colored paper, which corresponds precisely to the painting
(fg. 47 and cat. 3), is truly a cartoncino per il chiaroscuro, studying
the play of light and dark perhaps more than any subsequent work
by Barocci. Te artist employed a tiny brush to create fne stria-
tions in white heightening throughout the sheet, expressing the
dramatic play of light across every formin the composition.
Barocci probably used this work both as a preparatory study
and as a presentation drawing, to obtain his patrons approval for
the design. Although no artist before Barocci had made cartoncini
per il chiaroscuro, fnished presentation drawings were common
in Italian workshop practice from at least the ffeenth century.
It makes sense that the inception of Baroccis innovative drawing
type was rooted in a traditional category of drawing that would
have been familiar to any Italian painter. Te consistently careful
Fig. 36. Cartoncino per il chiaroscuro for the Circumcision, 1590. Black chalk and pen and brown ink with brown wash heightened with white,
squared in black chalk, on brown paper, laid down, 43.5 x 58.5 cm. Gabinetto Disegni e Stampe degli Ufzi, Florence, inv. 818 E.
Fig. 37. Cartoncino per il chiaroscuro for the Presentation of the Virgin in the Temple, 15931603. Black chalk with
brown wash heightened with white and gray body color with some touches of pink, 39.6 x 33.8cm.
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., Woodner Collection, Gift of Andrea Woodner, inv. 2006.11.4
fnish of the Ufzi drawing, which would soon be modifed
in later cartoncini, seems closely linked to earlier Italian presenta-
tion drawings.
During the ffeenth and sixteenth centuries, presentation
drawings, or modelli, were sometimes required by patrons who
wished to approve the design before the artist began painting. In
1485, for example, the Florentine patron Giovanni Tornabuoni
stipulated in his contract with Domenico Ghirlandaio that he
wouldneedtoapprove compositional drawings before Ghirlandaio
painted his frescoes in Santa Maria Novella.
125
Sometimes presen-
tation drawings were submited to the patron to secure the com-
mission in the frst place, a probable inception for Benozzo
Gozzolis study for Totilas Assault on Perugia of about 1461 (fg.
35).
126
Because such modelli were intended to provide the patron
with a clear idea of the design, they were generally detailed and
145
7
La Madonna del Gato (Te Madonna of the Cat)
Te Madonna del Gato, the only easel painting
by Barocci in a British public collection, was
among the frst pictures to enter the National
Gallery afer its foundation in 1824. Compara-
ble in scale and mood to the Rest on the Return
fom Egypt (cat. 4), the Madonna del Gato is
among the most delightful and engaging of all
Baroccis devotional pictures. It shows the Holy
Family in an atmosphere of cozy domesticity,
watching in amusement as the Infant Baptist
teases the household cat that gives the painting
its name. Giovanni Pietro Bellori referred to
the picture as a scherzo (a playful piece), aptly
emphasizing its light-hearted spirit.
1
Indeed, in
the animated warmth of the gathering, it is easy
to lose sight of the pictures more serious devo-
tional messagethe anticipation of Christs
future sacrifce. Instead, the close-up view, the
familiar domestic environment, and the pro-
tagonists cheerful expressions combine to cre-
ate an atmosphere of relaxed intimacy that has
direct appeal. Te four fgures are gracefully
arranged in a subtle diagonal rising fromthe cat
in the botom-lef corner, their limbs creating a
complex interplay of movement forward and
backward in space. Te delicate sfumato blush
that caresses their faces, limbs, fngers, and toes
epitomizes Sir Joshua Reynoldss observation
(quoting Plutarch) that Baroccis fgures look
as if they fed upon roses, a quality, along with
a perceived irreverence in the subject, not uni-
versally favored afer the paintings acquisition
by the National Gallery.
2
Te painting thus
emergedfromalmost complete scholarly obscu-
rity only in the 1960s, with research published
by Harald Olsen and Cecil Gould, reinforced
by its loan to the pioneering monographic show
held in Bologna in 1975.
Te scene is set in the bedchamber of a
Renaissance palace. Trough a doorway in the
background, from which a green curtain is
drawn back, an open window reveals a twilit
sky, the glow of the seting sun refected on the
elegant stone window seat and the lef-hand
wall. Seatedonalowstool, withher legs stretched
out and feet comfortably crossed, the Virgin
breastfeeds the Christ Child. She has recently
lifed himfromhis wicker cot, for the bedcover
is turned back and a silk pillow trimmed with
gold bears the imprint of his head. Her wicker
workbasket in the foreground contains a nar-
row white cloth stretched over an embroidery
cushion, a larger cloth, and a small book with a
gold-embossed leather binding, its pages falling
open to reveal an engraved frontispiece. Te
young mother cradles her baby to her breast
while embracing Saint John, perched on the
stool alongside her. Steadying himself against
the Virgins knee and instinctively clutching his
cousins chubby foot, he playfully holds up an
alarmed goldfnch, prompting the cat to sit up
on its haunches and lif its nose in the birds
direction. Christ pauses fromsuckling to watch
as directed by his mothers gesturing hand. Sup-
porting himself on a low table, Saint Joseph
leans over Marys shoulder to enjoy the scene.
Bellori noted that Barocci painted the pic-
ture for Antonio Brancaleoni (ca. 1532/331598),
who was count of Piobbico, a small stronghold
straddling a strategic mountain pass about
twenty miles west of Urbino; he also mentioned
that Brancaleoni commissioneda versionindis-
temper of the Rest on the Return fomEgypt (see
cat. 4 and fg. 52) for his parish church.
3
Belloris
reliability in respect to the later is unproblem-
atic, since the painting remains in situ in Santo
Stefano in Piobbico.
4
Hitherto, however, there
was no other information to support his associ-
ation of the Madonna del Gato with Brancale-
oni.
5
A newly discovered document recording
the pictures presence in the Perugian palace of
Brancaleonis granddaughter in 1671 confrms
that Bellori was correct about the National Gal-
lery picture.
6
We shall see that the paintings
date, coinciding with the creation of splendid
new apartments in Brancaleonis palace, as well
as its subject and appearance, ofer much fur-
ther corroboration of the counts patronage.
Despite his commission of two such beau-
tiful works fromthe artist in the mid-1570s, the
interesting fgure of Count Antonio II Branca-
leoni has received litle atention in the Barocci
literature.
7
His birthdate is unknown, but he
was probably born around 1532/33.
8
Like his
forebears, he took up arms from a young age
and was a talented horseman, fghting in many
wars, including the Batle of Lepanto in 1571.
9
In
1552, he married Laura Cappello, daughter of
the exiled Venetian poet and diplomat Ber-
nardoCappello(14981565).
10
Te young Laura
had been lady-in-waiting to Vitoria Farnese
(15211602), duchess of Urbino, who was
instrumental in her match with Count Antonio,
and who contributed a substantial sum to her
dowry.
11
Between 1555 and about 1569, Laura
bore Antonio fourteen children, of whomeight
sons and a daughter survived into adulthood.
12

As the eldest son of Count Monaldo di Roberto
Brancaleoni, Antonio inherited the lordship of
Piobbico in 1556, when his father was murdered
by the rival Ubaldini clan of nearby Apecchio.
13

Antonio himself was involved in a number of
murderous incidents in the defense of his fam-
ily and territory, for which Duke Guidubaldo of
Urbino reprimanded him, but penalties of exile
and confscation of property were always
quickly rescinded, indicating a degree of favor
at the Della Rovere court.
14

Baroccis picture must have been made for
Brancaleonis palace, which dominates the
medieval village of Piobbico from the top of a
small hill. In the 1470s, his great-grandfather,
Guido di Antonio I Brancaleoni (14371484),
had transformed it from a modest family resi-
dence into a worthy seignorial seat on the
model of the Urbinate palace of his employer
and ally, Duke Federicoda Montefeltro.
15
Count
Antonio, the patron of this picture, undertook
the next signifcant campaign to extend and
decorate the palace in the mid-1570s.
16
It is
exactly to this period, in which he was actively
re-establishing favor with the Della Rovere in
Urbino (see below), that Baroccis two paint-
ings can be dated. Te purpose of Brancaleonis
palace extension was to provide himself and his
consort with an elegant apartment on the piano
nobile (main foor), the fnest rooms in the pal-
ace to this day. Te newsuite consisted of a cen-
tral salone, or reception room, fanked by the
count and countesss separate bedchambers,
decorated with exemplary scenes from Greek
and Roman history, respectively, each provided
with a private chapel.
17
Te rooms were embel-
lished with stucco ceiling moldings and reliefs
CAT. 7. La Madonna del Gatto (The Madonna of the Cat), ca. 157576. Oil on canvas, 4438 x 3612 in. (112.7 x 92.7cm). The National Gallery, London, inv. NG29
150 La Madonna del Gatto (The Madonna of the Cat)
able as a bird.
63
At least one study for his
legs survives.
64
Barocci worked extremely hard to achieve
the beautiful, tender expressions of the four
protagonists in the picture. He probably pre-
pared individual studies in colored chalks for
all the heads, but only those for the Virgin and
Christ Child are extant.
65
Tere are at least
three studies for the head of the Virgin.
66

Among the most ethereal of all Baroccis head
studies is a sheet fromWindsor (cat. 7.3), which
appears at once sublimely idealized and
remarkably lifelike.
67
It is conceivable that the
head was a life study of a young garzone.
68
From
this, Barocci made an intermediate study that
focuses more on the variations in the pink and
white skin tones of the face and, given the
redrawn eyes, the specifc angle and placement
of the head as well.
69
He must have made this
study with the other one at hand, for they are
identical in scale and fractionally larger than
feet reveal that he still remained uncertain of
these elements (areas that he continued to
modify even when he came to paint the pic-
ture).
59
Afer setling on the Virgins quite com-
plex, but pictorially pleasing pose, he then
proceeded to study the fall of the drapery over
her outstretched legs; at least three such studies
survive.
60
In each of these, the arrangement of
the drapery is slightly diferent as Barocci
adjusted it to his satisfaction.
Several chalk studies for the two children
survive. A sheet in the Ufzi contains studies
of the Baptists head and lef armand right arm-
pit, along with passages of drapery.
61
Another
sheet in the Ufzi contains a quick black chalk
sketch for the raised right arm, the bird denoted
cursorily with only a few rapid loops.
62
In a
beautiful drawing in three chalks in Berlin,
Barocci studied this arm again in more
detail, also sketching the Baptists right hand,
holding a more detailed animal now recogniz-
felt any discomfort; and, by slightly turning
them here and there, they would fnd their
most comfortable atitude. In this way, he
experimented in fnding the most natural and
least afected movements of the fgure, and he
would make his sketches fromthese.
58
Exactly
such a process is evident in Baroccis studies for
the Virgin. Having established her contrap-
posto pose, with the upper body facing right
and the lower body turned to the lef, he pro-
ceeded to explore the position of her legs, frst
having them slightly apart, then crossed right
over lef (fg. 63), fnally setling on a lef-over-
right pose, as in cat. 7.2. In this elegant drawing,
Barocci made efective use of the yellow paper
as a midtone for the hatched shadows and
white chalk highlights. He did not bother to
develop the lef forearm, knowing that it would
be concealed by the baby. But pentimenti in the
fgures right hand (pointing at a black chalk
squiggle that must stand for the cat) and in the
CAT. 7.2. Study for the Virgin. Red and white chalk with some black chalk on yellow paper, 7916 x 614in. (19.2 x 15.9 cm).
Kupferstichkabinett, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, inv. KdZ 20140 (4156)
Fig. 62. Compositional study. Black, white, and red chalk on blue paper,
21.3 x 16.9 cm. Gabinetto Disegni e Stampe degli Ufzi,
Florence, inv. 11555 F. recto
Fig. 63. Nude gure studies. Red and black chalk heightened
with white on blue paper, 24.7 x 19.5 cm. Kupferstichkabinett,
Staatliche Museen zu Berlin, inv. KdZ 20526 (4451) verso
155 La Madonna del Gatto (The Madonna of the Cat)
Gato (this time in reverse) in 1577, providing a
terminus ante quem for the paintings comple-
tion (cat. 7.7). Tese are the only two paintings
by Barocci that Cort engraved, their associa-
tion being curtailed by his death in 1578. It is
not known how or even whether the two came
into direct contact. Cort was active in Venice
(156566 and probably 157172), where he
stayed in Titians house and produced a dozen
engravings afer his paintings. Otherwise, from
1567 until his death, Cort lived mainly in Rome,
where he worked withamong others
Baroccis friends the Zuccaro brothers and
Girolamo Muziano. Although Cort may have
Only one drawing remains tobe discussed:
a subtle ricordo in the British Museum (cat.
7.6), drawn on the back of a sheet of two red
chalk sketches for the Virgins pointing fnger.
Barocci made the ricordo as a model for Cort
(15331578).
76
It was long thought to be a copy,
but, despite its abraded condition, its quality is
such that scholars now rightly consider it auto-
graph.
77
Barocci had probably made a similar
model drawing for Cort afer a version of the
Rest on the Return fom Egypt, from which the
printmaker produced a beautiful engraving in
the same orientation as the picture, dated 1575
(see cat. 4). Cort engraved the Madonna del
for which there are studies on four sheets.
75
Te
gesture began life as a pointing index fnger
with the other fngers closed. He made several
detail drawings at this stage but in subsequent
studies began to unfurl the other fngers, end-
ing up painting the hand with the palm open.
In a drawing in the Ufzi, with six diferent
studies for the hand similar to the fnal posi-
tion, Barocci narrowed his focus even more
to perfect the position of the thumb. Te
large number of studies for the Virgins hand (at
least eleven on four sheets) underscores the
importance of her gesture for the pictures
interpretation.
CAT. 7.6. Compositional study for Cornelis Corts Madonna del Gatto print (recto). Black and red chalk, heightened with white,
some outlines incised, squared by incision. [Verso: Three studies for the Virgins right hand. Red chalk],
12116 x 9716in. (30.6 x 23.9 cm). The British Museum, London, inv. 1994,0514.55
CAT. 7.7. Cornelis Cort after Barocci, La Madonna del Gatto, State II, 1577. Engraving, 13316 x 91116in. (33.4 x 24.5 cm).
Inscribed at bottom: Di. Greg. PP.xiij ex Privil.p. an. X. Corneli. Cort fec. 1577. Inscribed in lower margin:
Ludit Joannes, tacitus miratur jesvs. / Utriusq notat symbolu uterq parens, / Ille refert hominemparadisj e limine pulsum, /
Quamferat hic pulso jammeditatur opem. / Fedricus Barotius Urbinensis Inventor. The British Museum, London, inv. V,8.159