(c. 1488/90-1576) Hilly landscape with a river valley, a ruin in the background, pen and brown ink, on laid paper, 14,3 x 29,5 cm, laid down on fine Japan paper, with a vertical tear through the centre of the sheet and with a repaired central crease, browned, somewhat stained, mounted, unframed, (Sch)

Provenance: Sir Peter Lely (1618-1680), Lugt 2093; Johnathan Richardson senior (1665-1745), Lugt 2184; Edward Bouverie (1767-1858), Lugt 325; Dorotheum Vienna, April, 29, 1924, lot 324; Dr. Arthur Feldmann (1877-1941); Gilhofer Ranschburg, Vienna, June 28, 1934, lot 304 (unsold); March 15, 1939 confiscation through the GESTAPO; Private Collection Vienna; Dorotheum Vienna, March 29, 1989, lot 855; Albertina Vienna, Inv. Nr. 40000; Oct. 3, 2008 Decision for restitution to the heirs of Dr. Arthur Feldmann; 2008-2013 heirs Feldmann.

Literature: W. Suida, Tizian, Zurich/ Leipzig 1933, p. 77, plate CXXII a); L. Fröhlich-Bum, "Studien zu Handzeichnungen der italienischen Renaissance. Fünf unbekannte Zeichnungen des Andrea del Sarto", in: Jahrbuch der k. k. Sammlungen, Neue Folge, Vol. 2, 1928, p. 195, Ill. 264; Auktionskatalog Gilhofer & Ranschburg, Vienna, June 28, 1934, lot 304, p. 35; Michael Jaffé, The Devonshire Collection of Italian Drawings. Venetian and North Italian Schools, London 1994, Cat. 744, p. 44.

The long and significant provenance of the sheet which goes back to the collections of Sir Peter Lely (1618-1680), Jonathan Richardson senior (1665-1745) and Edvard Bouverie (1767-1858) points to the high esteem of the drawing yet in the 17th century. The sheet was first published with an attribution to Giovanni Girolamo Savoldo by L. Fröhlich-Bum in 1928 (Fröhlich-Bum 1928, p. 195, Ill. 264). W. Suida published the drawing in 1933 (table CXXII a) with a new attribution to Tizian and mentions two comparable sheets in the British Museum (Inv. 1895,0915.8832, "Fortress on a mountain", pen and brown ink, 13,6 x 27,6 cm; Inv. 1895,0915.818, "Saint Eustach (or Saint Hubert?) in a landscape“, pen and brown ink, 21,6 x 13,6 cm):
Probably more autonomous landscape drawings existed then than we know today. One of the most beautiful sheets – a pen drawing in the Louvre (Suida 1993, plate CCVVV b) – was recognised by L. Fröhlich-Bum due to its remarkable quality. A spacious landscape drawing from the collection of Dr. Feldmann in Brno, which was already ascribed to Titian in old times, can be added. The characteristic jagged rock shows similarities with the „Presentation of the Virgin in the Temple.“
vvvvvToday Suida’s attribution of the sheet to Titian cannot be maintained anymore. According to Prof. Bernard Aikema the present drawing may derive from the near artistic Venetian surrounding of Tizian and may have been executed between 1530–1540. The large landscape perspective with a ruin in the background and the trees at the left margin which serve as a repoussoir remind one of the landscape backgrounds in paintings by Palma Vecchio (1480–1528), Bernardino Licinio (1489–1565) and Giovanni Cariani (1485–1547). We find similiar landscape compositions by Domenico Campagnola (1484–1550). A comparable draftsman stroke can be found in drawings such as in the background of „The Holy Family with John the Baptist and Saint Catherine“ in the British Museum (Inv. 1895,0915.810) attributed to Palma Vecchio or in a sketch in pen and brown ink for “The Madonna and Child and patrons” in the Teyler Museum, Haarlem (Inv. B 021) which is also attributed to Palma Vecchio. There are also similarities with two studies attributed to Bonifazio de’ Pitati for his „Madonna and Child and Saints” at the collections of the Chatsworth-Library (comp. Jaffé 1994, Cat. 744 a, b).

We are grateful to Prof. Bernard Aikema for the scientific support concerning the attribution of the drawing.