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Drawing 5 (bottom): Elaborate Doric capital from the courtyard of the Palazzo dell Cancelleria
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Reference number
SM volume 115/119e
Purpose
Drawing 5 (bottom): Elaborate Doric capital from the courtyard of the Palazzo dell Cancelleria
Aspect
Cross section and raking view of side, with measurements
Scale
To an approximate scale of 1:9
Inscribed
inpalatio. C [ardinalis]. S. Georgii. media pars. (‘In the palace of the Cardinal of San Giorgio, on the middle part [i.e. middle storey]’)
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, traces of black chalk and compass pricks
Hand
Bernardo della Volpaia
Notes
This richly ornamented Doric capital has a two-tier neck, an echinus of ‘S’-shaped profile, and an abacus with florets (one shown) on its underside. As the caption establishes, it is from the piano nobile of the courtyard of Rome’s Palazzo della Cancelleria, and the same capital is also shown elsewhere in the Codex Coner in a drawing of an entire column (Fol. 41v/Ashby 68).
The capital was closely based on an ancient prototype of which two examples survive, one in Santa Prisca where it is used as a baptismal font and another formerly in the Capitoline Museum where it was once located under the statue of a barbarian prisoner (Hülsen 1910, p. 25) but now in the Antiquarium Comunale di Roma (inv. 870; Burns 1984, p. 415). A capital of this same design was drawn by Giuliano da Sangallo in his Codex Barberini, giving the location as Santa Maria Maggiore, while a similar drawing by Antonio Labacco suggests that it may have been part of the church’s portico (questo chapitello e to[n]do e a santa maria maggiore sotto auno porticho i[n] terra; Lanzarini–Martinis 2015, pp. 150–51). Its resemblance to the modern example from the Palazzo della Cancelleria indicates that architects of the time were being inspired by this elaborate form of Doric. A further variant was used for the design used for the garden loggia of Raphael’s Palazzo Pandolfini in Florence (c.1515), the construction of which was initially overseen by Giovanni Francesco da Sangallo (Pagliara 1984).
The drawing was adjusted during execution, being originally set out with stylus lines so that the raking view receded less steeply, but this was corrected perhaps so as to be more consistent with the drawings above it. Also adjusted was the curvature of the echinus, which was made to protrude less far. The drawing’s format was altered to a frontal depiction in a copy by Michelangelo.
RELATED IMAGES: [Michelangelo] London, BM, 1859-6-25-560/1v (De Tolnay 1975–80, 4, pp. 47–48; Agosti–Farinella 1987, pp. 94–95)
OTHER IMAGES MENTIONED: [Giuliano da Sangallo] Rome, BAV, Barb. lat. 4424 (Codex Barberini), fol. 11v (Hülsen 1910, p. 21; Borsi 1985, p. 91); [Antonio Labacco] Rome, BAV, Codice Rossiano 618, fol. 27r (Census, ID 10165339)
OTHER DRAWINGS IN CODEX CONER OF SAME SUBJECT: Fol. 32r/Ashby 51; Fol. 41v/Ashby 68; Fol. 49r/Ashby 83; Fol. 83r/Ashby 136
The capital was closely based on an ancient prototype of which two examples survive, one in Santa Prisca where it is used as a baptismal font and another formerly in the Capitoline Museum where it was once located under the statue of a barbarian prisoner (Hülsen 1910, p. 25) but now in the Antiquarium Comunale di Roma (inv. 870; Burns 1984, p. 415). A capital of this same design was drawn by Giuliano da Sangallo in his Codex Barberini, giving the location as Santa Maria Maggiore, while a similar drawing by Antonio Labacco suggests that it may have been part of the church’s portico (questo chapitello e to[n]do e a santa maria maggiore sotto auno porticho i[n] terra; Lanzarini–Martinis 2015, pp. 150–51). Its resemblance to the modern example from the Palazzo della Cancelleria indicates that architects of the time were being inspired by this elaborate form of Doric. A further variant was used for the design used for the garden loggia of Raphael’s Palazzo Pandolfini in Florence (c.1515), the construction of which was initially overseen by Giovanni Francesco da Sangallo (Pagliara 1984).
The drawing was adjusted during execution, being originally set out with stylus lines so that the raking view receded less steeply, but this was corrected perhaps so as to be more consistent with the drawings above it. Also adjusted was the curvature of the echinus, which was made to protrude less far. The drawing’s format was altered to a frontal depiction in a copy by Michelangelo.
RELATED IMAGES: [Michelangelo] London, BM, 1859-6-25-560/1v (De Tolnay 1975–80, 4, pp. 47–48; Agosti–Farinella 1987, pp. 94–95)
OTHER IMAGES MENTIONED: [Giuliano da Sangallo] Rome, BAV, Barb. lat. 4424 (Codex Barberini), fol. 11v (Hülsen 1910, p. 21; Borsi 1985, p. 91); [Antonio Labacco] Rome, BAV, Codice Rossiano 618, fol. 27r (Census, ID 10165339)
OTHER DRAWINGS IN CODEX CONER OF SAME SUBJECT: Fol. 32r/Ashby 51; Fol. 41v/Ashby 68; Fol. 49r/Ashby 83; Fol. 83r/Ashby 136
Literature
Ashby 1904, p. 59
Ashby 1913, p. 209
Ashby 1913, p. 209
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