Foliage scrolls with doves, a field mouse and a design for a capital

This large sheet contains vegetal and animal ornamental motifs typical of the repertoire of grottesche decorations. Derived from antique wall paintings rediscovered in Rome during the Renaissance, it was during the first half of the 16th Century that the use of these designs flourished in frescoes and in stucco reliefs created by Raphael and his assistants. Artists in Raphael’s circle, such as Perino del Vaga and Giovanni da Udine, became proficient in these inventions and their creations were often reproduced and imitated in drawing and print by other artists throughout the century (see A. Nesselrath, ‘Giovanni da Udine disegnatore’, Bollettino Monumenti Musei e Gallerie Pontificie, IX, 2, pp. 237-291). Representations of birds such as those in a beautiful sheet by Giovanni da Udine, published by Arnold Nesselrath (op. cit., pp. 282-283, ill.) and later on the market (Christie’s, London, 10 July 2001, lot 21), might have been sources of inspiration for the author of this drawing. The graphic style and the watermark (very close to Briquet 5024, recorded in 1573) suggest a date in the last decades of the 16th Century.