Currently not on view
Study for the Fall of the Giants,
ca. 1528–33
Perino del Vaga (Pietro Buonaccorsi), Italian, 1501–1547
x1977-119
Among Raphael’s most gifted followers, Perino del Vaga spent a decade in Genoa, where he decorated the chief residence of Prince Andrea Doria. One of the centerpieces is the ceiling fresco of the Fall of the Giants; this colorful drawing provides the only visual evidence for the evolution of its design. The fresco depicts a mythological scene from Ovid’s Metamorphoses, in which Jupiter punishes the rebellious giants, hurling a thunderbolt down upon them during their attempt to destroy Mount Olympus. While the essential composition has been established,
many details differ, indicating that the drawing represents an intermediary stage in the artist’s preparatory process.
many details differ, indicating that the drawing represents an intermediary stage in the artist’s preparatory process.
Information
Title
Study for the Fall of the Giants
Dates
ca. 1528–33
Medium
Pen and brown ink with later additions of pen and black ink, heightened with modern white gouache over older lead white (partially oxidized) on prepared salmon pink tan laid paper
Dimensions
23.6 × 39.4 cm (9 5/16 × 15 1/2 in.)
frame: 46.5 × 61.6 × 2.9 cm (18 5/16 × 24 1/4 × 1 1/8 in.)
Credit Line
Museum purchase, Laura P. Hall Memorial Fund
Object Number
x1977-119
Culture
Type
Materials
Mr. and Mrs. S. S. Schwartz, Larchmont, New York; Lucien Goldschmidt, Inc., New York; purchased by the Art Museum, 1977;
From Davidson, “Drawings by Perino del Vaga...”: Formerly in the collection of Mr. and Mrs. S. S. Schwarz, Larchmont, New York. (See reference Bib. 4748);
- Bernice Davidson, "Drawings by Perino del Vaga for the Palazzo Doria, Genoa", Art bulletin 41, no. 4 (Dec., 1959): p. 315-326., p. 321-322; fig. 15
- "Acquisitions of the Art Museum 1977," Record of the Art Museum, Princeton University 37, no. 1 (1978): p. 28-40., p. 39
- Elena Parma Armani, Perin del Vaga: l’anello mancante: studi sul manierismo, (Genova: Sagep, 1986)., p. 119, 122, p. 151 (note 91), p. 273; p. 110, fig. 121
- Elena Parma et al., Perino del Vaga: tra Raffaello e Michelangelo (Milano: Electa, 2001)., 306, illus. (listed incorrectly in book as 47-2)
- Laura Giles, Lia Markey, Claire Van Cleave, et. al., Italian Master Drawings from the Princeton University Art Museum, (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Art Museum, 2014)., p. xviii, fig. 1
