Page - 672 - in Jacopo Strada and Cultural Patronage at the Imperial Court - The Antique as Innovation, Volume 2

Chapter 13672 copied in Strada’s libri di disegni—an example is the ewer in the form of a dol- phin [Figs. 13.69 and 13.70]—were acquired by General Guise from the same source. This is a virtual certainty for a design for a candlestick of which the (trun- cated) inscription seems to be in Strada’s hand as well [Fig. 71].70 In the same way Giulio’s autograph designs for similar inventions found elsewhere and of which copies are included in Strada’s albums must once have made part of Stra- da’s holdings.71 Apart from the Strahov codex the Oxford drawing provides the only ma- terial evidence of the way Strada organized his material. It suggests that he kept the drawings he most valued in albums which were probably thematically arranged—thus he probably kept all the original designs for the Palazzo del Te together in a separate volume—and shows that at least occasionally he identi- fied the invention and recorded its original purpose. Whether all his drawings were so carefully stored and annotated must remain an open question: after all this one instance may have been exceptional, since it concerns a drawing by the master whose work and example had profoundly influenced his artistic education and which related to a building he had known and admired even as a youngster. 70 The Dolphin ewer: Byam Shaw 1976, i, p. 131, cat. nr. 429, pl. 236; a very primitive copy from Strada’s workhop in ÖN-HS-21,3, fol. 432/148; the candlestick Byam-Shaw, 1976, i, p. 131, cat. nr. 424; ii, pl. 232; a related version in the Strahov Codex, cf. Bukovinská/Fučíková/ Konečný, 1984, pp. 81 and84, cat. 7/10. 71 Even then it is difficult to be certain, since many of these inventions had already been copied in Giulio’s own workshop, and many versions of them may have circulated at the time; in future Valerie Taylor’s research will throw light on this issue. Figure 13.71 Giulio Romano, design for a candlestick, Oxford, Christ Church. Figures 13.69–13.70 Giulio Romano or workshop, designs for a ewer in the form of dolphin (Oxford, Christ Church) and the copy from Strada’s workshop, Vienna; önb-hs, Cod. min. 21,3, f. 438/148r).