Giorgio Vasari (Arezzo 1511-1574 Florence)

Nicholas Turner was the first to attribute this drawing to Vasari, noting its similarities with A deacon testifying among a group of elders in the British Museum (inv. 1937-8-4-1; illustrated in N. Turner, Florentine Drawings of the sixteenth century, London, 1986, no. 139). It cannot be linked with any surviving work by the artist, but Florian Härb, who has confirmed the attribution (private communication to the present owner), suggests that it is datable to the 1550s or 1560s. He compares it to other works of Vasari's maturity, such as the Ceres on a chariot drawing by dragons in the Uffizi (inv. 1515 E), formerly attributed to Parmigianino, which is a study for a ceiling painting in the Palazzo Vecchio. The present drawing may also have been linked with Vasari's decorative scheme at the Palazzo.