Putti

The verso (or back) of this drawing displays a number of inscriptions, stamps, and collector’s marks that accumulated as the object moved from one owner to the next. Traditionally in Western art, collector’s marks do not appear on the recto (or front) of a drawing because it is thought to be visually distracting and alters the artist’s intentions. In the case of this Italian drawing, the two stamps that appear on the front are for Sir Joshua Reynolds and Thomas Banks, who owned the work in that order. Often the placement of the stamps is important: one may appear over the top of the other to indicate a partial erasure of the previous owner, or they may appear side by side to simultaneously represent equal status and acknowledgement of the prior owner. (“This is no Less Curious: Journeys through the Collection” cocurated by Sonja Gandert, Alexandra Palmer, and Alana Ryder and presented at the Johnson Museum January 24 – April 12, 2015)