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On the Use of Perspective in a Drawing Attributed to Diego Siloé

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Abstract

The drawing analysed in this article, conserved at the MNAC in Barcelona and attributed to the Spanish architect Diego Siloé (ca. 1490–1563), has never previously been studied in depth. It is a relatively rapidly executed sketch depicting a Renaissance urban setting, in which the authors not only demonstrate the sound use of one-point perspective, an extraordinary feat in Spain at that time, but also reconstruct it geometrically. Raking light photography provides a tool for identifying numerous incised lines, the true geometric support for the drawing, while a comparative analysis reveals a significant connection between the drawing and Siloé’s works, giving rise to new suppositions. The authors also detect a strong connection with Italy, consistent with existing hypotheses about the extent of the young Siloé’s Italian sojourn. The research conducted reinforces the attribution of the drawing to Siloé and opens up new channels for interpreting his life and work.

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Notes

  1. Inventory number: 107786-D. We are sincerely grateful to this institution and, in particular, to Francesc Quilez Corella, chief curator of drawings and prints, for allowing us to study and reproduce the drawing.

  2. On palaeographic aspects, we are thankful for the advice of Pilar Ostos Salcedo and Carmen del Camino Martínez, professors of the University of Seville.

  3. Gómez-Moreno (Gómez-Moreno 1983: 41) states that the master always wrote “Siloee”, with a double “e”, and also that the usual pronunciation would have put the stress on the “o”, as there are a diversity of ways in which hands other than the master spelled his last name. However, whether or not this last deduction is correct, the Flemish pronunciation of the term “Siloee” is equivalent in current Spanish to that of “Siloé”, with an accent on the last vowel, a form commonly used by many other researchers and shared by us. On the other hand, Gómez-Moreno also asserts that the preposition “de” placed between the first and last name (many researchers write “Diego de Siloé”) does not appear in the sixteenth-century documents, for either Diego or for his father Gil. Considering the unquestionable fact that the master himself always wrote with his hand “Diego Siloee”, we believe that the current equivalent form is “Diego Siloé”.

  4. In the MNAC catalogue, the drawing is recorded as purchased in London in 1964 by Xavier de Salas Bosch, director of the Spanish Institute and secretary of the Board of Museums of Catalonia, possibly from an antique dealer. A reproduction of the payment can be found in Arxiu Nacional de Catalunya, ref. ANC1-715-T-6284.

  5. See Garriga (1988), Falomir (2000), Ortega (2001), Frommel and Parada (2014) and Parada (2018).

  6. The first important scenic apparatus, probably with a perspective set, was documented in 1548 (Ferrer 1991: 59ff., specially 75ff.).

  7. An extremely low relief technique in which very shallow recesses create a sensation of depth.

  8. It was sometimes difficult to distinguish them from the mark left by the pen on the paper. We overcame this difficulty by only validating as incised lines the ones that were visibly longer than the corresponding ink line. A certain number of incised lines have probably not been detected or preserved.

  9. Approximate height of the eyes for a 6-foot statue, a classical reference used by Pedro Mexía in his Silva de varia lección published in Seville in 1540 (Sánchez 2012: 22).

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Acknowledgements

All drawings and photographs presented in this article are by the authors, unless the opposite is specifically indicated. Antonio Ampliato was funded by HAR 2016-76371-P, Government of Spain, 2017–2019.

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  1. University of Seville School of Architecture, Seville, Spain

    Antonio Ampliato & Eduardo Acosta

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Ampliato, A., Acosta, E. On the Use of Perspective in a Drawing Attributed to Diego Siloé. Nexus Netw J 22, 577–600 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00004-020-00487-z

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