The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of March 15, 2025

Flowering Bush above an Eroded Bank

c. 1572–1604
(Italian, 1528–1612)
Italy, 16th century
black chalk, brush and brown wash, and lead white (partially oxidized), with traces of red chalk
Sheet: 20 x 13.2 cm (7 7/8 x 5 3/16 in.); Secondary Support: 30.4 x 22.9 cm (11 15/16 x 9 in.)
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund 1973.171
Location: not on view

Did You Know?

This drawing is believed to have once been in the collection of two brothers who were considered the premier academic painters in 19th-century Rome.

Description

Federico Barocci, who worked in Urbino, made landscape sketches for use in his paintings and as independent studies. The artist’s multimedia approach—combining chalks, ink washes, and opaque paints—was novel at the time but would become standard practice for landscape artists working in later centuries. Novel, as well, was his interest in excerpts of the natural world rather than fully realized scenes. Here, the artist drew an eroded bank with a few bold lines in black chalk, then used a brush to layer brown and white ink washes, capturing the untamed clump of earth with
remarkable naturalism.
  • c. 1844
    Pietro (1760-1833) and Vincenzo (1771-1844) Camuccini, Rome
    dean of Chichester (letter in file)
    1969
    Sotheby's, Florence, October 18, 1969, lot D71 (Disegni di Proprieta di un Signore)
    1970
    with Faerber and Maison, Ltd., London
    1973
    with P & D Colnaghi & Co., Ltd, London
  • Olszewski, Edward J., and Jane Glaubinger. The Draftsman's Eye: Late Italian Renaissance Schools and Styles. Cleveland: Published by the Cleveland Museum of Art in cooperation with the Indiana University Press, 1981. no. 32, illus., pp. 15-16
    "The Year in Review for 1973." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 61, no. 2 (1974): 31-78. p. 74 no. 49, illus. p. 36 25152513
    Bunzl, Yvonne Tan, Faerber & Maison, exhibition and sale catalogue, April 6-25, 1970.
    Gaeta Bertelà, Giovanna. Disegni di Federico Barocci: Catalogo della mostra. Firenze: L.S. Olschki, 1975. p. 32, under cat. 16
    The Cleveland Museum of Art. Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978. Reproduced: p. 116 archive.org
    Smith, Graham. “Federico Barocci at Cleveland and New Haven.” The Burlington Magazine 120, no. 902 (1978): 330–33. p. 330 www.jstor.org
    Olszewski, Edward J., Burton L. Dunbar, and Robert Munman. Sixteenth-Century Italian Drawings. London: Harvey Miller, 2008. no. 30, pp. 34-35
    Emiliani, Andrea. Federico Barocci (Urbino, 1535-1612). Ancona: Il lavoro editoriale/ Ars Books, 2008. cat. 35.3, p. 287
    Mann, Judith Walker, Babette Bohn, and Carol Plazzotta. Federico Barocci: Renaissance Master of Color and Line. 2012. p. 261n28, p. 261n30
    Pillsbury, Edmund P., and Louise S. Richards. The Graphic Art of Federico Barocci: Selected Drawings and Prints : the Cleveland Museum of Art, February 15-March 26, 1978, Yale University Art Gallery, April 11-June 4, 1978. New Haven: The Gallery, 1978. ca. 33, p. 57
  • Love Gardens / Forbidden Fruit. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 2-October 29, 2023).
    Treasures on Paper from the Collection of the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 9-June 8, 2014).
    Concept, Dogma and Feeling: Italian Drawings 1550-1650. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 27-October 20, 1991).
    Italian Drawings from the Permanent Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 16, 1986-March 1, 1987).
    Visions of Landscape: East and West. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 17-March 21, 1982).
    Brush Drawings. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (March 3-May 10, 1981).
    The Draftsman's Eye: Late Italian Renaissance Schools and Styles. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 6-April 22, 1979).
    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).
    CMA; New Haven, Conn., Yale University Art Gallery, The Graphic Art of Federico Barocci: Selected Drawings and Prints (1978), no. 33, illus. cover.
    Year in Review: 1973. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 30-March 17, 1974).
  • {{cite web|title=Flowering Bush above an Eroded Bank|url=false|author=Federico Barocci|year=c. 1572–1604|access-date=15 March 2025|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1973.171