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Specialist note
As was first recognized by Philip Pouncey, this drawing, traditionally attributed to Francesco Salviati, is a study by Orazio Samacchini for a fresco on a ceiling of the Palazzo Vizzani, Bologna (J. Winkelmann, op. cit., p. 681).
While the figure of Daedalus appears virtually unchanged in the fresco, the position of Icarus has been radically altered, as have the indications of the signs of the zodiac in the background.
The date of the fresco is uncertain. Winkelmann suggests circa but Faietti (op. cit., 2001) thinks it may have been excuted earlier, in the second half of the 1560s, as it is close in style to Samacchini's work in the Castello dei Rossi at San Secondo. Dr Faietti compares the drawing to Diligence rebuffing Enmity and chaining Hate, now in the Louvre (M. Faietti, op. cit., 2001, no. 50) which shares the same precise and powerful handling and which may also have been preparatory to Sammachini's frescoes in Palazzo Vizzani.
While the figure of Daedalus appears virtually unchanged in the fresco, the position of Icarus has been radically altered, as have the indications of the signs of the zodiac in the background.
The date of the fresco is uncertain. Winkelmann suggests circa but Faietti (op. cit., 2001) thinks it may have been excuted earlier, in the second half of the 1560s, as it is close in style to Samacchini's work in the Castello dei Rossi at San Secondo. Dr Faietti compares the drawing to Diligence rebuffing Enmity and chaining Hate, now in the Louvre (M. Faietti, op. cit., 2001, no. 50) which shares the same precise and powerful handling and which may also have been preparatory to Sammachini's frescoes in Palazzo Vizzani.