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Drawing 2 (bottom): Column base from the Temple of Concord
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Reference number
SM volume 115/126b
Purpose
Drawing 2 (bottom): Column base from the Temple of Concord
Aspect
Half section with perspectival elevation from above, with measurements
Scale
To an approximate scale of 1:5
Inscribed
Indomo./ canpolinis. (‘In the house of the Ciampolini’); [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, traces of black chalk and compass pricks
Hand
Bernardo della Volpaia
Notes
Although similar in profile to the upper-level bases inside the Pantheon (cf. Desgodetz 1682, p. 52), this base is far more elaborate in decoration. It was seen, as the caption indicates, in the house of the Ciampolini, a residence located near to the Portico of Octavia (Bober–Rubinstein 1986, p. 473). As Ashby surmised (1904), it comes from the Temple of the Concord in the Roman Forum (Schreiter 1995, p. 332; Gaspari 1979, pp. 95–102), and it is one of at least five bases from this building that were known in the Renaissance (Ashby 1913; Census). This one, however, is the earliest-drawn example, and it was previously depicted in the Codex Escurialensis when it was already in the Ciampolini house.
The Escurialensis drawing, and another in the Uffizi from a slightly later time (Nesselrath 1996, p. 185, fig. 31), differ from the Coner depiction in showing the base from an oblique viewpoint. The Coner drawing, by contrast, combines a frontal view with a section made visible by way of a cut-away quadrant, and shows the base from above so that a fictitious peg hole is visible. This format is the one generally used in the codex for highly embellished bases, and like many other depictions of bases, it is meticulously annotated with measurements. There is evidence at the left of some adjustment in the perspective of the underdrawing before the drawing was inked in. It was copied in modified form as just a part elevation by Michelangelo.
RELATED IMAGES: [Michelangelo] Florence, CB, 1Ar: right side (De Tolnay 1975–80, 4, p. 49; Agosti–Farinella 1987, pp. 86–87)
OTHER IMAGES MENTIONED: [Anon] El Escorial, Real Monasterio, 28-II-12 (Codex Escurialensis), fol. 51r [Egger 1905–06, p. 129; [Anon.] Florence, GDSU, 4337 Ar (see Nesselrath 1996, p. 185 and fig. 31)
The Escurialensis drawing, and another in the Uffizi from a slightly later time (Nesselrath 1996, p. 185, fig. 31), differ from the Coner depiction in showing the base from an oblique viewpoint. The Coner drawing, by contrast, combines a frontal view with a section made visible by way of a cut-away quadrant, and shows the base from above so that a fictitious peg hole is visible. This format is the one generally used in the codex for highly embellished bases, and like many other depictions of bases, it is meticulously annotated with measurements. There is evidence at the left of some adjustment in the perspective of the underdrawing before the drawing was inked in. It was copied in modified form as just a part elevation by Michelangelo.
RELATED IMAGES: [Michelangelo] Florence, CB, 1Ar: right side (De Tolnay 1975–80, 4, p. 49; Agosti–Farinella 1987, pp. 86–87)
OTHER IMAGES MENTIONED: [Anon] El Escorial, Real Monasterio, 28-II-12 (Codex Escurialensis), fol. 51r [Egger 1905–06, p. 129; [Anon.] Florence, GDSU, 4337 Ar (see Nesselrath 1996, p. 185 and fig. 31)
Literature
Ashby 1904, pp. 63–64
Ashby 1913, p. 209
Günther 1988, p. 338
Census, ID 46582
Ashby 1913, p. 209
Günther 1988, p. 338
Census, ID 46582
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