£882
Auction: 12 October 2022 at 11:00 BST
pencil, inscribed SKETCHES OF BRONZE OUTLETS/IN LAVATORY CERTOSA DI PAVIA, and with notes
Provenance: The Dr. Thomas Howarth Collection, Christie's, London 17th February 1994, Lot 59
Exhibited: Charles Rennie Mackintosh, 1868-1928: A memorial exhibition sponsored by the Art Gallery of Ontario and arranged by Dr. Thomas Howarth, 18 November-31 December 1978, no. 73
Note: The Certosa di Pavia is a Carthusian monastery built in the 15th century with a 16th-century façade. Mackintosh visited here as part of his three-month sketching tour of Italy on 7th July 1891. He had won the Alexander Thomson Memorial Travelling Studentship in 1890 and the prize was £60 to fund a sketching tour, the results of which had to be written up and presented to the Thomson Trustees on completion.
He made at least 24 drawings and watercolours of various aspects of the Certosa including this and the following lot. In a lecture given to the Glasgow Architectural Association on 6 September 1892, Mackintosh enthused: “The facade of this edifice, by Ambrogio Borgnone, an example of the riches/Renaissence (sic) style, is entirely covered with marble of different colours, and most tastefully decorated. At the base are medallions of Roman Emperors, and above them scenes from sacred history, beyond them are the magnificent windows, which for beauty & delicacy of workmanship cannot be equalled anywhere. The interior which has a very gorgeous effect was also decorated by Borgnone. Every chapel contains valuable pictures & other objects of interest and are separated from the nave, as is the transepts & choir, by beautiful iron & brass screens. The choir stalls are covered with intersia (sic) which is perhaps the best in Italy. A beautiful door to the right of the choir leads to the Lavatorio where there is an exquisite marble fountain, which perpetuates the memory of the architect of this noble pile. The cloisters which are got at through/another beautiful door, are surrounded by marble columns and charming decorations, in terracotta.”