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Drawing 4 (bottom right): Entablature from the Colosseum’s top storey
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Reference number
SM volume 115/113d
Purpose
Drawing 4 (bottom right): Entablature from the Colosseum’s top storey
Aspect
Cross section and raking view of front, with measurements
Scale
To an approximate scale of 1:20
Inscribed
.ultima. C[orona]. anphiteatri./ .uespasianj. (‘Final cornice of the amphitheatre of Vespasian’) [measurements]
Signed and dated
- c.1513/14
Datable to c.1513/14
Medium and dimensions
Pen and brown ink and grey-brown wash over stylus lines and compass pricks
Hand
Bernardo della Volpaia
Notes
This representation of the Colosseum’s crowning entablature, in section-plus-raking-view format, illustrates very clearly the highly unusual feature of a slot between the corbels in the frieze, which then forms a channel passing through the cornice in order to hold one of the original wooden masts that served to support the velarium (canvas awning; see Fol. 26r/Ashby 41 Drawing 1). The same detail is sketched rather hurriedly in a frontal view in the Codex Strozzi, which is much less well observed than the Coner depiction, and in a profile view on a sheet attributed to Antonio da Sangallo the Elder, although this does not show the slot and channel. The same detail was later illustrated by Sebastiano Serlio in Book Three of his treatise published in 1540, who used a similar format with a raking view, and also included one of the corbels beneath that would have supported the base for one of the masts. Other details from the Colosseum are included on this same Coner page (Drawing 2) and on the verso (Fol. 66v/Ashby 114 Drawing 2]. The Coner drawing was copied by Michelangelo.
RELATED IMAGES: [Michelangelo] Florence, CB, 2Av: left side (De Tolnay 1975–80, 4, p. 48; Agosti–Farinella 1987, pp. 112–13)
OTHER IMAGES MENTIONED: [Anon.] Florence, GDSU, Codex Strozzi, 1603 Ar (Bartoli 1914–22, 6, p. 28); [Antonio da Sangallo the Elder attr.] Florence, GDSU, 2043 Av (Bartoli 1914–22, 6, pp. 30–31); Serlio 1619, 3, fol. 81r
OTHER DRAWINGS IN CODEX CONER OF SAME SUBJECT: Fol. 2r/Ashby 2), Fol. 2v (Ashby 3), Fol. 3r (Ashby 4), Fol. 3v (Ashby 5), Fol. 25 and flap recto (Ashby 39), Fol. 25 verso of flap (Ashby 39a), Fol. 25v (Ashby 40); Fol. 26r (Ashby 41), Fol. 66r/Ashby 113 (Drawing 2 on this page); Fol. 66v (Ashby 114), Fol. 83v (Ashby 137)
RELATED IMAGES: [Michelangelo] Florence, CB, 2Av: left side (De Tolnay 1975–80, 4, p. 48; Agosti–Farinella 1987, pp. 112–13)
OTHER IMAGES MENTIONED: [Anon.] Florence, GDSU, Codex Strozzi, 1603 Ar (Bartoli 1914–22, 6, p. 28); [Antonio da Sangallo the Elder attr.] Florence, GDSU, 2043 Av (Bartoli 1914–22, 6, pp. 30–31); Serlio 1619, 3, fol. 81r
OTHER DRAWINGS IN CODEX CONER OF SAME SUBJECT: Fol. 2r/Ashby 2), Fol. 2v (Ashby 3), Fol. 3r (Ashby 4), Fol. 3v (Ashby 5), Fol. 25 and flap recto (Ashby 39), Fol. 25 verso of flap (Ashby 39a), Fol. 25v (Ashby 40); Fol. 26r (Ashby 41), Fol. 66r/Ashby 113 (Drawing 2 on this page); Fol. 66v (Ashby 114), Fol. 83v (Ashby 137)
Literature
Ashby 1904, p. 55
Günther 1988, p. 337
Census, ID 45719
Günther 1988, p. 337
Census, ID 45719
Level
Drawing
Digitisation of the Codex Coner has been made possible through the generosity of the Census of Antique Works of Art and Architecture Known in the Renaissance, Berlin.
If you have any further information about this object, please contact us: drawings@soane.org.uk