To an approximate scale of 1:6 (entablature) and 1:9 (capitals)

.C[orona]. S[uperior]. pulcrum. uidere. (‘Upper cornice of the Belvedere’)

• c.1513/14
  Datable to c.1513/14

Pen and brown ink and grey-brown wash over stylus lines

Bernardo della Volpaia

The detail shows the capitals of the clustered Ionic pilasters and the associated entablature of the middle storey of the Cortile del Belvedere’s lowest terrace, designed by Bramante, that are also shown in two earlier elevational drawings (Fols 27r/Ashby 43 and 28r/Ashby 45). The abbreviation in the caption (‘C S’) almost certainly stands for corona superior, the same abbreviation being used for the Ionic upper order of the Theatre of Marcellus (Fol. 54r/Ashby 93 Drawing 1], indicating that they are the ones from the upper storey, which would have been correct at this date since the final third storey had yet to be completed, as is evident from the elevational drawings. The entablature’s profile is recorded accurately, but there are scaling errors that caused representational problems. The breaking forward in the entablature is not as broad as it should be, which meant that the capitals could not be drawn to the same scale, with the consequence that the order and entablature are considerably mismatched. It may be that the initial idea was just to represent the entablature, and that the capitals were added only as an afterthought. The drawing was executed before the one to its left, and it was partly erased to accommodate its partner.

This detail was included not just because the Cortile del Belvedere was the most fully represented modern structure in the compilation (see Cat. Folio 15r), but also because of the novelty of the bundled Ionic pilasters. The capitals themselves were modelled on those of the Temple of Saturn, a type with volutes at the four corners rather than a pair of scrolls, and thus a design that is more easily adapted to the complex composition used here of Ionic capitals with abutting volutes and abacuses (even if this is not represented very precisely in the drawing. The entablature has a continuous corona along its top edge, like the one designed for the Cortile’s upper terrace (see Fol. 44r/Ashby 73), and, although this feature is not particularly evident here from the way it is drawn, it is recorded in the two elevational drawings, and can be seen in a small fragment of the original entablature that still survives (Frommel 1992, p. 29 ill. 19). The drawing was partly copied by Michelangelo, but he represented the entablature as a simple profile.

RELATED IMAGES: [Michelangelo] London, BM, 1859-6-25-560/2r (De Tolnay 1975–80, 4, p. 45; Agosti–Farinella 1987, pp. 97–98)

OTHER DRAWINGS IN CODEX CONER OF SAME SUBJECT: Fol. 15r/Ashby 25; Fol. 27r/Ashby 43; Fol. 27v/Ashby 44; Fol. 28r/Ashby 45; Fol. 28v/Ashby 46; Fol. 46v/Ashby 78; Fol. 54r/Ashby 93; Fol. 68r/Ashby 116; Fol. 69r/Ashby 117; Fol. 72r/Ashby 122

Ashby 1904, p. 47
Ackerman 1954, p. 196

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.

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