Two Drawings of Ships (verso)

Also known as: (left) Sea Battle; (right) Ship Study; Studies of ships; Two Drawings of Ships

About the Artwork

Once attributed to the Italian painter Giotto (about 1267-1337), this drawing is the oldest sheet in the Cleveland museum's collection. We now know it to be a copy by Parri Spinelli after a mosaic Giotto designed for the portico of the church of Old St. Peter's in Rome.

Provenance

Giorgio Vasari (according to Richardson, Ottley, Kurz, Virch, Collobi). Jonathan Richardson Sr., London (Lugt 2183, lower right, in black ink); [his sale, 28 January 1747, no. 68]; Sir Joshua Reynolds, London (Lugt 2364, lower right, in black ink); [probably his sale, 15 March 1798, no. 967]. C. M. Metz, Rome and London. W. Young Ottley, London. [Sale, 11 June 1814, no. 622]; possibly Sir Thomas Lawrence (Lugt 2445, incomplete blind stamp, lower left); Samuel Woodburn, London; [his sale, Christie's, London, 12 June, 1860, no. 1230, as Giotto, Calling of St. Peter); Gase, Paris (from annotated sale catalogue). Marquess of Northampton, Castle Ashby; [Thomas Agnew & Sons Ltd., London].

Exhibition history

Year in Review (1961). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (November 1-26, 1961). The International Style: The Arts in Europe around 1400. The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, MD (organizer) (October 23-December 2, 1962). Old Master Drawings. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 10-31, 1964). Drawings: France, Italy, Netherlands. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 1-March 24, 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). Florence and the Arts: Five Centuries of Patronage. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 13-September 19, 1971). Treasures on Paper. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (May 10-July 24, 1988). Master Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 27-October 17, 2000); The Morgan Library & Museum, New York, NY (May 23-August 19, 2001); Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Houston, TX (October 14, 2001-January 6, 2002). Michelangelo: Mind of the Master. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 22, 2019-January 5, 2020).

Quick Overview

Artist: Parri Spinelli (Italian, 1387–c. 1453)
Date: 1410s
Medium: pen and brown ink (iron gall)
Dimensions: Sheet: 27.2 x 37.2 cm (10 11/16 x 14 5/8 in.); Secondary Support: 32.8 x 42.8 cm (12 15/16 x 16 7/8 in.)
Type: Drawing
Classification: Drawing
Department: Drawings
Credit line: Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
Accession no.: 1961.38.b

More by Parri Spinelli in museum collections

Navicella (recto)
Parri Spinelli
c. 1410s · Drawing
Public collection via the Cleveland Museum of ArtAT-00000327

Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.