8. The Master of the Roman Songbook
Anna Bianco
In a 1978 review of a book on the Dutch and Flemish drawings in the Graphische Sammlung in Munich, Janno van Tatenhove questioned the attribution of a fine landscape drawing to the Flemish artist Anthonie Crussens (1621–1665/76). Moreover, he linked seven other landscape drawings to this work, all previously attributed to different artists. He believed this group to be by one and the same anonymous artist.1 Building on van Tatenhove's suggestion, this article attributes 38 other drawings to the same hand. A group of 28 of these are illustrations to secular cantatas in a manuscript held in the Biblioteca Casanatense in Rome (MS2478 [1–28]. The other 10 are part of other public collections or have turned up at the art market. In this article, the anonymous artist is presented under the Notname or provisional name the ‘Master of the Roman Songbook'.
The 45 drawings show many similarities in relation to the technique, subject matter, and construction of the landscapes, which in their design have a Flemish flavour. After a brief overview of the various attributions of the drawings so far, this article will highlight these similarities in more detail. It will be shown that the draughtsman can be situated in Rome around 1650. Several illustrations in the music manuscript contain accurate images of central Rome that the artist most likely drew on the spot. On the basis of a number of topographical details we can narrow down the dating of the manuscript to a period of a few years. Moreover, since the figures depicted and the music repertoire refers to the Roman high society of the 17th century, it may be assumed that the identity of this artist, possibly a highly skilled amateur, must be sought within the aristocratic context he or she depicted.
Cover image
Master of the Roman Songbook
Merry company in the open air, c. 1650
Berlin (city, Germany), Kupferstichkabinett der Staatlichen Museen zu Berlin, inv./cat.nr. KdZ 30295
1
Master of the Roman Songbook
Landscape with a visit to a tomb, 1652 or 1653
Rome, Biblioteca Casanatense, inv./cat.nr. MS2478
2
Master of the Roman Songbook
Landscape with shepherds, 1652 or 1653
Rome, Biblioteca Casanatense, inv./cat.nr. MS2478
Master of the Roman Songbook
Landscape with shepherds, 1652 or 1653
Rome, Biblioteca Casanatense, inv./cat.nr. MS2478
4
Master of the Roman Songbook
Landscape with the rape of Europa (Metamorphoses II: 835-877; VI 103-107), 1652 or 1653
Rome, Biblioteca Casanatense, inv./cat.nr. MS2478
5
Master of the Roman Songbook
View on piazza Colonna and via Lata in Rome, 1652 or 1653
Rome, Biblioteca Casanatense, inv./cat.nr. MS2478
6
Master of the Roman Songbook
River landscape with fishermen, 1652 or 1653
Rome, Biblioteca Casanatense, inv./cat.nr. MS2478
7
Master of the Roman Songbook
River landscape with a couple walking, 1652 or 1653
Rome, Biblioteca Casanatense, inv./cat.nr. MS2478
8
Master of the Roman Songbook
Wooded landscape with hunting scene, 1652 or 1653
Rome, Biblioteca Casanatense, inv./cat.nr. MS2478
9
Master of the Roman Songbook
The fire of Troy, or the fire of Borgo in Rome, 1652 or 1653
Rome, Biblioteca Casanatense, inv./cat.nr. MS2478
10
Master of the Roman Songbook
The fall of Phaeton, 1652 or 1653
Rome, Biblioteca Casanatense, inv./cat.nr. MS2478
11
Master of the Roman Songbook
Neptunus and Pan with Syrinx transformed into a panpipe, 1652 or 1653
Rome, Biblioteca Casanatense, inv./cat.nr. MS2478
12
Master of the Roman Songbook
View of Piazza Navona in Rome, 1652 or 1653
Rome, Biblioteca Casanatense, inv./cat.nr. MS2478
13
Master of the Roman Songbook
Diana and her nymphs spied upon by Actaeon, 1652 or 1653
Rome, Biblioteca Casanatense, inv./cat.nr. MS2478
14
Master of the Roman Songbook
The sisters of Phaeton looking for his body (?), 1652 or 1653
Rome, Biblioteca Casanatense, inv./cat.nr. MS2478
15
Master of the Roman Songbook
River landscape with shepherd, 1652 or 1653
Rome, Biblioteca Casanatense, inv./cat.nr. MS2478
16
Master of the Roman Songbook
An assault in a mountainous landscape, 1652 or 1653
Rome, Biblioteca Casanatense, inv./cat.nr. MS2478
17
Master of the Roman Songbook
A hunter and a shepherd resting in a river landscape, 1652 or 1653
Rome, Biblioteca Casanatense, inv./cat.nr. MS2478
18
Master of the Roman Songbook
The death of Adonis, 1652 or 1653
Rome, Biblioteca Casanatense, inv./cat.nr. MS2478
19
Master of the Roman Songbook
Harbour scene, 1652 or 1653
Rome, Biblioteca Casanatense, inv./cat.nr. MS2478
20
Master of the Roman Songbook
Perseus and Andromeda, 1652 or 1653
Rome, Biblioteca Casanatense, inv./cat.nr. MS2478
21
Master of the Roman Songbook
River landscape with fishermen and a village, 1652 or 1653
Rome, Biblioteca Casanatense, inv./cat.nr. MS2478
22
Master of the Roman Songbook
Forest landscape with shepherds, 1652 or 1653
Rome, Biblioteca Casanatense, inv./cat.nr. MS2478
23
Master of the Roman Songbook
The fall of Icarus, 1652 or 1653
Rome, Biblioteca Casanatense, inv./cat.nr. MS2478
24
Master of the Roman Songbook
Mountain landscape with resting shepherds, 1652 or 1653
Rome, Biblioteca Casanatense, inv./cat.nr. MS2478
25
Master of the Roman Songbook
Rest in the gardens of the Villa Celimontana, 1652 or 1653
Rome, Biblioteca Casanatense, inv./cat.nr. MS2478
26
Master of the Roman Songbook
Rest in the gardens of the Villa Celimontana, 1652 or 1653
Rome, Biblioteca Casanatense, inv./cat.nr. MS2478
27
Master of the Roman Songbook
Carnival in the streets of Rome, 1652 or 1653
Rome, Biblioteca Casanatense, inv./cat.nr. MS2478
28
Master of the Roman Songbook
Carnival in the streets of Rome, 1652 or 1653
Rome, Biblioteca Casanatense, inv./cat.nr. MS2478
Notes
1 Van Tatenhove 1978, p. 132.