DOI article:
Wouk, Edward H.: Frans Floris and disegno: a return to the question
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.51714#0063
Executed fairly shortly after Floris’s return from
Italy, the Christ on the Cross composition — like the
nearly contemporary woodcuts6 — reveals both
formai and stylistic influences of the artist’s Ital-
ian years and in particular his interest in the art of
Michelangelo. Van de Velde notes the deliberate
quotations from the Sistine Ceilingïn. the work, most
clearly evident in the figures of the Good and Bad
Thieves, which quote two of the ignudiS* These clear
references to the work of Michelangelo corroborate
Van Mander’s assertion that Floris had drawn after
the Sistine Ceiling when in Rome and that the use of
these drawings formed a fundamental source for
his subséquent construction of a compelling nar-
rative image or istona:''1 As in the study of the Arch
of Constantine, this drawing clearly establishes and
works within the limits of a shallow pictorial space,
and the subséquent addition of wash respects the
circumscribed field.
In early studies of Floris’s œuvre, Friedrich
Antal,7" Dora Zuntz,71 and G. J. Hoogewerff72 ail ar-
gued for the formative influence of Tintoretto’s early
work on Floris’s stylistic development. Van de Velde
67 BIALLER 1992 (see in note 64), pp. 34-37, notes that the
figure standing at the center of the composition between
David and Saul in David Playing the Harp before Saul quotes
an engraving by Nicolas Beatrizet of figure by Michelangelo
from the Pauline Chapel in Rome (engraving, 375 X 202 mm,
trimmed). The print is not described in BARTSCH, A.: Le
peintre-graveur. Vienna 1803 —1821; see DAVID, B. (ed.): Man-
neristprints: international style in the sixteenth Century. Los Angeles
1998, pp. 50-51, No. 7.
68 TOLNAY, Ch. de: Michelangelo. Princeton 1949, Vol. 2, pp.
63-67, figs. 101 and 106. For a more complété study of
Michelangelo’s influence on Floris, see DE CONINCK, E.:
L’influence de Michel-Ange dans l’œuvre peinte, dessinée
et gravée de Frans Floris. Mémoire, Université Catholique
de Louvain, 1993. In: Revue des archéologues et historiens d’art de
Louvain, 26,1993, pp. 219-220.
69 VAN MANDER 1604 (see in note 31), fol. 239v.
70 ANTAL, E: The Problem of Mannerism in the Netherlands.
In: Classicism andLomanticism with other studies in arthistory. New
York 1966 (annotated translation of 7,um Problem des Nieder-
ländischen Manierismus. Kritische Berichte yir Kunstgeschichtlichen
Literatur. Leipzig 1928 — 1929), p. 88.
1 ZUNTZ 1929 (see in note 3), pp. 39-40 and p. 68, under
group a.
downplayed the importance of this source of inspi-
ration, noting that many of the comparisons Zuntz
drew to Tintoretto’s work were not chronologically
plausible.'3 In light of Bert Meijer’s research into the
relationship of Northern artists to the Tintoretto
workshop, however, the spécifie question of the
young Tintoretto’s influence on Floris has returned
to the fore.'4 In a recent publication on a number
of works associated with Floris in Slovák collec-
tions, Ingrid Ciulisová re-examined the influence of
Tintoretto’s Déposition of Santa Maria del Rosario in
Venice on Floris’s Christ on the Cross as depicted in
Prague, drawing attention to the représentation of
mourners at the base of the cross in the works of
these two artists. '5 Chronology might again appear to
confound this analysis, although as Ciulisová notes,
the dating of Tintoretto’s Déposition varies greatly in
the literatuře.76
Tintoretto’s vision of the mourners, moreover,
bears Strong comparison with a similarly-constructed
group in Daniele da Volterra’s earlier fresco of the
Déposition from the Orsini Chapel of Santa Trinità dei
Monti at Rome,77 and even if Tintoretto’s painting
72 HOOGEWERFF, G.J.: Vlaamsche Kunst en Italiaansche Renais-
sance. Malines — Amsterdam 1935, p. 184.
73 VAN DE VELDE 1975 (see in note 3), Vol. 1, pp. 30, 81,
and p. 154, under No. S2. On Tintoretto’s early work, see
ECHOLS, R.: Beginnings: until 1546. In: Tintoretto. [Exhib.
Cat.] Ed. M. FALOMIR. Madrid 2007, pp. 181-185.
74 MEIJER, B. W: Flemish and Dutch Artists in Venetian Work-
shops: The Case of Jacopo Tintoretto. In: Renaissance Venice
and theNorth: Crosscurrents in the Time of Bellini, Dürer and Titian.
[Exhib. Cat.]. Palazzo Grassi, Venice. Milan 1999, pp. 135-137.
75 CIULISOVÁ 2003 (see in note 43), p. 96.
76 Venice, Church of Santa Maria del Rosario; oil on canvas,
297 x 165 cm. According to Ciulisová, dating of the work
ranges from 1548 to 1570. See VENTURI, A.: Storia dell’arte
italiana. Milan 1901 — 1940, Vol. 9, pt. 4, p. 618n; TIETZE,
H.: Tintoretto: The Paintings and Drawings. New York 1948, pp.
370-371, fig. 50; PALLUCCHINI, R. - ROSSI, P.: Tintoretto.
Le opere sacre eprofane. Vol. 1. Milan 1982, pp. 168-169, No.
171, fig. 224; NICHOLS, T: Tintoretto: Tradition and Identity.
London 1999, pp. 167-169, fig. 146. Nichols dates the work
to 1563 — 1565 whereas Tietze suggests 1555 — 1560.
Although NICHOLS (see in note 76), p. 165, fig. 45, has
more recently dated this fresco to 1551, the traditional date,
57
Italy, the Christ on the Cross composition — like the
nearly contemporary woodcuts6 — reveals both
formai and stylistic influences of the artist’s Ital-
ian years and in particular his interest in the art of
Michelangelo. Van de Velde notes the deliberate
quotations from the Sistine Ceilingïn. the work, most
clearly evident in the figures of the Good and Bad
Thieves, which quote two of the ignudiS* These clear
references to the work of Michelangelo corroborate
Van Mander’s assertion that Floris had drawn after
the Sistine Ceiling when in Rome and that the use of
these drawings formed a fundamental source for
his subséquent construction of a compelling nar-
rative image or istona:''1 As in the study of the Arch
of Constantine, this drawing clearly establishes and
works within the limits of a shallow pictorial space,
and the subséquent addition of wash respects the
circumscribed field.
In early studies of Floris’s œuvre, Friedrich
Antal,7" Dora Zuntz,71 and G. J. Hoogewerff72 ail ar-
gued for the formative influence of Tintoretto’s early
work on Floris’s stylistic development. Van de Velde
67 BIALLER 1992 (see in note 64), pp. 34-37, notes that the
figure standing at the center of the composition between
David and Saul in David Playing the Harp before Saul quotes
an engraving by Nicolas Beatrizet of figure by Michelangelo
from the Pauline Chapel in Rome (engraving, 375 X 202 mm,
trimmed). The print is not described in BARTSCH, A.: Le
peintre-graveur. Vienna 1803 —1821; see DAVID, B. (ed.): Man-
neristprints: international style in the sixteenth Century. Los Angeles
1998, pp. 50-51, No. 7.
68 TOLNAY, Ch. de: Michelangelo. Princeton 1949, Vol. 2, pp.
63-67, figs. 101 and 106. For a more complété study of
Michelangelo’s influence on Floris, see DE CONINCK, E.:
L’influence de Michel-Ange dans l’œuvre peinte, dessinée
et gravée de Frans Floris. Mémoire, Université Catholique
de Louvain, 1993. In: Revue des archéologues et historiens d’art de
Louvain, 26,1993, pp. 219-220.
69 VAN MANDER 1604 (see in note 31), fol. 239v.
70 ANTAL, E: The Problem of Mannerism in the Netherlands.
In: Classicism andLomanticism with other studies in arthistory. New
York 1966 (annotated translation of 7,um Problem des Nieder-
ländischen Manierismus. Kritische Berichte yir Kunstgeschichtlichen
Literatur. Leipzig 1928 — 1929), p. 88.
1 ZUNTZ 1929 (see in note 3), pp. 39-40 and p. 68, under
group a.
downplayed the importance of this source of inspi-
ration, noting that many of the comparisons Zuntz
drew to Tintoretto’s work were not chronologically
plausible.'3 In light of Bert Meijer’s research into the
relationship of Northern artists to the Tintoretto
workshop, however, the spécifie question of the
young Tintoretto’s influence on Floris has returned
to the fore.'4 In a recent publication on a number
of works associated with Floris in Slovák collec-
tions, Ingrid Ciulisová re-examined the influence of
Tintoretto’s Déposition of Santa Maria del Rosario in
Venice on Floris’s Christ on the Cross as depicted in
Prague, drawing attention to the représentation of
mourners at the base of the cross in the works of
these two artists. '5 Chronology might again appear to
confound this analysis, although as Ciulisová notes,
the dating of Tintoretto’s Déposition varies greatly in
the literatuře.76
Tintoretto’s vision of the mourners, moreover,
bears Strong comparison with a similarly-constructed
group in Daniele da Volterra’s earlier fresco of the
Déposition from the Orsini Chapel of Santa Trinità dei
Monti at Rome,77 and even if Tintoretto’s painting
72 HOOGEWERFF, G.J.: Vlaamsche Kunst en Italiaansche Renais-
sance. Malines — Amsterdam 1935, p. 184.
73 VAN DE VELDE 1975 (see in note 3), Vol. 1, pp. 30, 81,
and p. 154, under No. S2. On Tintoretto’s early work, see
ECHOLS, R.: Beginnings: until 1546. In: Tintoretto. [Exhib.
Cat.] Ed. M. FALOMIR. Madrid 2007, pp. 181-185.
74 MEIJER, B. W: Flemish and Dutch Artists in Venetian Work-
shops: The Case of Jacopo Tintoretto. In: Renaissance Venice
and theNorth: Crosscurrents in the Time of Bellini, Dürer and Titian.
[Exhib. Cat.]. Palazzo Grassi, Venice. Milan 1999, pp. 135-137.
75 CIULISOVÁ 2003 (see in note 43), p. 96.
76 Venice, Church of Santa Maria del Rosario; oil on canvas,
297 x 165 cm. According to Ciulisová, dating of the work
ranges from 1548 to 1570. See VENTURI, A.: Storia dell’arte
italiana. Milan 1901 — 1940, Vol. 9, pt. 4, p. 618n; TIETZE,
H.: Tintoretto: The Paintings and Drawings. New York 1948, pp.
370-371, fig. 50; PALLUCCHINI, R. - ROSSI, P.: Tintoretto.
Le opere sacre eprofane. Vol. 1. Milan 1982, pp. 168-169, No.
171, fig. 224; NICHOLS, T: Tintoretto: Tradition and Identity.
London 1999, pp. 167-169, fig. 146. Nichols dates the work
to 1563 — 1565 whereas Tietze suggests 1555 — 1560.
Although NICHOLS (see in note 76), p. 165, fig. 45, has
more recently dated this fresco to 1551, the traditional date,
57