Public collection via the Cleveland Museum of Art
AT-00011139Virgin and Child with St. Catherine of Alexandria and Saint Anne (?)
Also known as: The Virgin and Child with the Infant Saint John the Baptist, Saint Catherine and another female Saint; The Virgin and Child with Two Saints
About the Artwork
Battista Franco was one of Michelangelo’s most devoted followers: his biographer Giorgio Vasari wrote that he drew every figure on the master’s Sistine Chapel ceiling. In Franco’s own works, such as this drawing, he made new, inventive compositions that emulated Michelangelo without directly copying or quoting his works. The drawing—possibly a study for painted pottery—shows the Virgin Mary and Christ flanked by Saints Anne and Catherine. The unusual, twisting forms of the saints recall the inventive poses that Michelangelo created for many of the saints on the Last Judgment fresco.
Inscriptions
VERSO OF MOUNT (now removed, partially destroyed), center left, in brown ink: Lot 284 Roscoe Sale / 397 St[ud?]ley Martin / Sale. L' pool 29: / Jan : 1889. [284, 397 underlined] ; lower left, in graphite: The owner of / the V and A Tiepolo album? / H. Macandrew / Feb. 76 [with arrow to next inscription] ; lower left, in graphite: ["Mr. Cheney" in ink inscription describing restoration.] [sideways; brackets part of transcription] ; on sheet attached to verso of mount now removed, in brown ink: Battista Franco / born in Venice 1498 died 1561 family name Semolei / This drawing was in collections of / Lord Spencer, and Richardson_ bought by / Mr Martin at Mr. Roscoes sale 24 Sept / 1816 No 284 in Catalogue, in July 1862 / the lights were restored by an artist under / the advice of Mr. Colnaghi when the / small figure near the child appeared _ this / Mr. Cheney thinks was not part of the design / & purposely rubbed over _ "I Pentimenti" in the / Childs head then appeared also _ Mr. Colnaghi / remarked upon three styles of Masters studied by / Battista Franco - Michael Angelo Raphael & Parmigiano / in this fine Drawing - ; FRAGMENT OF OLD MOUNT (now removed), in brown ink: Battista Franco. ; FRAGMENT OF OLD MOUNT (now removed), in graphite: 1862 / NUDD ; in blue ballpoint: J. RICHARDSON SEN~ / EARL SPENCER ; FRAGMENT OF OLD MOUNT (now removed), in black ink: 1510. - GIOV: BAT: FRANCO. - 1580. [underlined] ; FRAGMENT OF OLD MOUNT (now removed), in black ballpoint: Franco ; VERSO, in graphite: 240 ; FRAGMENT OF OLD MOUNT (now removed), in black ballpoint: Franco ; VERSO, in graphite: 60 [crossed out] ; 45 ^
Provenance
Earl John Spencer (Lugt 1531, lower right, in black ink)
Exhibition history
Year in Review: 1965. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 27-November 14, 1965). Old Master Prints and Drawings. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 29, 1966-February 28, 1967). Italian Prints and Drawings. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 30-March 26, 1968). The Graphic Art of Frederico Barocci. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 15-March 25, 1978); Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT (April 15-June 4, 1978). The Draftsman's Eye: Late Italian Renaissance Schools and Styles. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 6-April 22, 1979). Italian Drawings from the Permanent Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 16, 1986-March 1, 1987). Master/Apprentice: Imitation and Inspiration in the Renaissance. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 13, 2019-February 23, 2020).
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Quick Overview
- Artist
- Battista Franco (Italian, c. 1510–1561)
- Date
- c. 1545
- Medium
- pen and brown ink and brush and brown wash with red chalk underdrawing, heightened with white gouache (partially tarnished); pricked (lower part of Virgin)
- Dimensions
- Sheet: 26.1 x 26.2 cm (10 1/4 x 10 5/16 in.)
- Type
- Drawing
- Classification
- Drawing
- Department
- Drawings
- Credit line
- Delia E. Holden Fund
- Accession no.
- 1965.16
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Open-access museum record · AT-00011139
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