Page - 671 - in Jacopo Strada and Cultural Patronage at the Imperial Court - The Antique as Innovation, Volume 2

671Visual Documentation These friezes are painted in the chambers where Theodoro lives in the Palazzo del Te; and these are the true originals in the hand of Giulio Ro- mano, but I think only the one above has been executed. Both sheets are rather beautiful ornamental drawings from Giulio Romano’s immediate circle, if not—as Strada insists—by his hand [Figs. 13.66–13.68]. They are sketches for the painted friezes to be executed by one of Giulio’s as- sistants in some of the rooms of the Palazzo del Te.69 They entered the collec- tion of Christ Church with the legacy left to the college by General John Guise (1682–1765). It is unlikely that these were the only items from Strada’s Mu- saeum that had ended up, perhaps by way of Lord Arundel’s collection, in the hands of this connoisseur soldier. We can fairly assume that those of Giulio Romano’s designs for vases and candelabra all’ antica in Oxford which were 69 Oxford, Christ Church, inv. nrs. 938 and 939. They are designs for painted or perhaps stucco decorations in the Appartamento delle Metamorfosi in the Palazzo del Te (ca 1527–1530). The drawings were not considered autograph by Oberhuber and Ferino Pag- den (verbal communication); cf. Byam-Shaw, 1976, i, pp. 134–135, cat. nrs. 451–452; ii, pls. 233–234; Jansen, 1988, pp. 138–139; cat. Giulio Romano, 1989, pp. 378–379. The inscription reads: ‘Questi fresi stanno dipinti in quelle camere d[ove?]e sta Teodoro nel Palazzo del Thi; et questi sonno gli veri originali di man di Giulio Romano, ma creddo che solamente quel di sopra sia stata messa in opera’; ‘Theodoro’ probably indicates Teodoro Ghisi, the caretaker of the palace. Figures 13.66–13.68 Giulio Romano or workshop, designs for a mural decoration in the Palazzo del Te, and detail of Strada’s inscription. Oxford, Christ Church Picture Gallery.