PROVENANCE -

Cassiano dal Pozzo (1583-1657).

His brother Carlo Antonio dal Pozzo

His son Gabriele dal Pozzo

His son Cosimo Antonio dal Pozzo

Pope Clement XI (1649-1721), by whom purchased from the above in 1703.

His nephew Cardinal Alessandro Albani (1692-1779).

King George III, by whom acquired from the above through James Adam in 1762.

Sold from the Royal Library, Windsor, early 1920s.

Art market, London.

Sir Owen Morshead (1893-1977), Royal Librarian 1926-1958.

This exquisite study is from the Museo Cartaceo [‘Paper Museum’] assembled by the 17th century Roman intellectual Cassiano dal Pozzo, who served as secretary to Cardinal Francesco Barberini, the nephew of Pope Urban VIII, and played an important role in the cultural life of Baroque Rome. A friend of Galileo and a significant patron of Nicolas Poussin, he was also a member of one of the earliest scientific academies in Europe, the Accademia dei Lincei, which emphasised direct visual observation as the key to unravelling the mysteries of nature. Dal Pozzo commissioned over 7,000 watercolours recording the natural world, antiquities and architecture, painted from first hand observation. They include meticulous studies of geological specimens, plants, fruit and vegetables, fungi, birds, fish and other animals, some of which were made with the newly-invented microscope. Most of the artists are unidentified, but one, Vincenzo Leonardi, seems to have worked for Cassiano for many years. Many of the drawings show their subject at actual size, and several present more than one view of the specimen.