To an approximate scale of 1:8

.in. S. ni[cola]. carce[re]. (‘In San Nicola in Carcere’); [measurements]

• c.1515
  Datable to c.1515

Pen and brown and light-grey wash ink over traces of black chalk and a single vertical stylus line at centre

Bernardo della Volpaia

The depicted vase is ornamented on either side with satyr masks complete with beards and scrolling horns and is composed in four layers. The cup-shaped zone at the bottom is unadorned as is the slightly recessed portion above it, while a narrower band above that is adorned with banded laurel, and the top element is embellished with scrolling acanthus. It was seen, as the caption specifies, in San Nicola in Carcere and, given its small size (having a diameter of around 38 cm), it may have been used, as Ashby suggested, as a water stoup. It is no longer traceable but was drawn later in the sixteenth century by Sebastiano Vini (1515–1602).

Unlike the massive specimen from Santa Cecilia also shown on this sheet, the vase is drawn as if from above, which is again indicative of its diminutive size. The drawing is consistent in style with those from the second campaign of the codex’s execution, but the handwriting of the caption is in keeping with that of Bernardo della Volpaia on many other Coner drawings.

OTHER IMAGES MENTIONED: [Sebastiano Vini] Paris, Louvre, Cabinet des dessins, Vini Sketchbook, inv. 975v (Lalande Biscontin 2015, pp. 167–69)

Ashby 1904, p. 69
Census, ID 46892

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