Huntsman on Horseback Chasing a Stag in a Wood, Watched by a Maiden
Second third of the XVI century. Wash, Pencil, Pencil ground, Grey-brown ink on paper.Not on display
The traditional attribution to Castello, which appears in an old inscription on the reverse of the mount, needs to be taken seriously. Not only is the pen work reminiscent of Castello´s handling of the medium, but also there are some echoes in style of Castello´s pen studies from a recently rediscovered album of drawings by the master in a private collection (Newcome, 1995, pp. 197-208). Especially similar are some of the drawings of natural-history subjects, which recall the sensitive handling of the trees and foliage in the Prado drawing. On the other hand, as David Scrase (2003) has mentioned, the drawing has a distinctly Florentine flavor, as seen in the figure types, most notably the young man on horseback. His physiognomy, as well as his drapery, recalls pen-and-ink studies by or attributed to Gregorio Pagani (1558-1605) and Agostino Ciampelli (1565-1630). Up until now, neither the authorship nor the subject matter of this good drawing has been resolved. Both the rearing horse and the stag, which were first roughed in several times in black chalk before the final form was decided upon, seem to have given the artist some trouble (Text drawn from Turner, N.: From Michelangelo to Annibale Carracci. A century of Italian drawings from the Prado, Art Services International-Museo Nacional del Prado, 2008, p. 88).