DRESDEN, GERMANY.- The Kupferstich-Kabinett of the Staatliche Kunstsammlungen Dresden is among the most important collections of drawings, graphics and photographies in the world. Now, thanks to secure research foundings, it can add one more outstanding work to its holdings: One of the few drawings of Sandro Botticelli (1445 – 1510). The drawing that until now was listed as anonymous “Kopf eines Knaben” (Head of a Boy), a work of highest quality, dated around 1478 – 1480, has been part of the Kupferstich-Kabinett since the 18th century. Only now it could be attributed to Botticelli. Thanks to a research project, which covered several years and whose results were presented recently in Florence, also many other new attributions could be acchieved.

The Kupferstich-Kabinett in Dresden keeps a representative holding of Italian late gothic and early renaissance drawings. Acquired without particular aims and throughout a long period of time, parts of the collection still had its origin uncleared. Most drawings belong to the so-called “Alter Bestand” (old inventory), which means that they formed part of the Kupferstich-Kabinett already before 1764. Some of them might have found their way to Dresden by the collection of Gottfried Wagner from Leipzig which was acquired by Augustus the Strong in 1728. Dr. Lorenza Melli, one of the best connoisseurs of early Italian drawings examined these holdings from 2003 until 2005 with financial support from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) and in cooperation with the Deutsches Kunsthistorisches Max-Planck-Institut in Florence. The fruitful results of this research project are recorded in a detailed catalogue that has been published on the occasion of the exhibition “Botticelli, Verocchio e oltre. Disegni italiani del Quattrocento dalle collezioni reali di Dresda” (Botticelli, Verocchio and others. Italian Drawings of the 15th century from the royal collections in Dresden), which was opened in Florence in September 2006.

Among the many attributions without any doubt, the until then anonymous “Kopf eines Knaben” strikes most. Lorenza Melli recognizes in this delicate drawing the craftsmanship of Sandro Botticelli. Until now, only a few drawings could be definitely attributed to him. The attribution of the drawing “Flöte spielender Knabe” (Boy playing a flute), dated to 1438-1485 and researched for the very first time, to Lorenzo Costa from Ferrara is of similar importance. A small, two-parted cardboard (around 1480/1490) that shows ten founders kneeling down (the faces are individualised in a very impressive mannor) and which was lately considered as lombardian, is of equally high quality. This small cardboard was used to transfer the motif on canvas or wood and therefore bears holes along the contours. Now, the work is attributed to the Antoniazzo Romano, a Roman artist working in Umbria an the Marches. The Italian press discussed the drawings enthusiastically. The daily newspaper Il Giornale wrote for instance: “From Dresden: The triumph of the Drawing.”

Within the context of the exhibition, a group of experts on drawings met in Florence end of october, among them the director of the Dresden Kupferstich-Kabinett, Prof. Dr. Wolfgang Holler, to discuss in front of a numerous audience and with the help of the original drawings about questions of attribution, iconographic particularities and the condition of preservation of these works from Dresden. Among the participants of this symposium furthermore were: the former directors of the Uffici Anna Forlani Tempesti and Anna Petrioli Tofani as well as their successor Marzia Faietti, a renown specialist in drawings from Bologna. Among the other speakers were: Guilio Bora, Giorgio Marini, Bert Meijer, Letizia Montalbano and Alessandro Cecchi. As one of the highest authorities on the work of Sandro Botticelli Cecchi confirmed the new attributions to this artist by Lorenza Melli.

A extraordinary exhibition also in the rooms of the Kupferstich-Kabinett in Dresden is planned for the year 2008. Until this date, the excellent inventory catalogue, published by the florentine publishing house Centro Di, is supposed to have appeared in German language.