Standing Female Figure and Ornamental Framework

Lively drawn with brush and brown wash, over black chalk, this relatively finished study was executed by Bedoli as a preparatory drawing for the standing female allegory (or Canephora) frescoed in the north barrel vault of the church of Santa Maria della Staccata in Parma. As one of the artist’s most important and vast commissions, the fresco cycle of the Steccata was realized by Bedoli over two decades from 1547. The figure featured on the present sheet relates with three other drawings (Uffizi, Florence Inv. 13468 F, Salvi collection, Parma and Private collection, Rome) to the ornamental frame around the scene with the Pentecost, which the artist completed by 1553. In developing his sequence of standing, elegantly draped female figures, Bedoli clearly channeled the celebrated motif of the 'Wise and Foolish Virgins' painted by Parmigianino in the same church of the Steccata between 1531 and 1539. The composition was squared for proportional enlargement of the design. Until the hand of Bedoli was recognized by Konrad Oberhuber and Mario di Giampaolo, the sheet was erroneously attributed by an early collector to "Dionisio /Calvart.", as proven by an old inscription on the recto. (C.C.B.)