Christ's Entry into Jerusalem, a preparatory drawing by Il Cigoli, ca. 1605

This large sheet, delicately enhanced with blue ink wash, was created by Lodovico Cardi, known as Il Cigoli, the most prominent painter in Florence at the end of the 16th century. It depicts a festive episode that opens Christ’s Passion: His glorious entry into Jerusalem, riding on a donkey.
Another version of our drawing, slightly more accomplished and squared up, is part of the collections of the Städel Museum in Frankfurt (8th picture in the gallery), which leads us to believe that this one is probably the very first version of the large altarpiece commissioned before 1604 for a chapel in the Church of Santa Croce in Florence (9th picture in the gallery). Left unfinished upon the painter's death, this painting was the last religious subject Cigoli worked on, giving it a particularly poignant dimension...

1. Il Cigoli, a Florentine painter, draftsman, architect, and sculptor at the transition between Mannerism and Baroque
Born in Tuscany near San Miniato in 1559, Il Cigoli joined in Florence the workshop of Alessandro Allori, himself a pupil and heir of the painter Agnolo Bronzino, at the age of 13. Around 1584, he was called upon to collaborate with the architect Bernardo Buontalenti (1536-1608) and became friends with the astronomer Galileo Galilei, whose advice led him to write a Treatise on Perspective. This was also the period during which his painting was greatly influenced by Santi di Tito. Introduced by Buontalenti to the Medici court, he received his first painting commissions from the Grand Duke Francesco I in 1588, which led him to take Florentine nationality on June 15, 1588.
The decade from 1591 to 1601 marked the artist's artistic maturity, as he established himself as one of the leading Florentine painters of the time. He had his own studio, where painters such as Andrea Commodi, Giovanni Bilivert , and Cristofano Allori were trained. He also became the principal set designer for major Medici events, such as the wedding of Henry IV and Marie de Medici. His work was so appreciated by the Queen of France that in 1610, after the assassination of her husband, she entrusted him with the design of the monumental statue erected in honor of Henry IV on the Pont-Neuf in Paris.
Il Cigoli moved to Rome in 1604 but continued to return regularly to Florence to fulfill numerous commissions. He became a Knight of Malta in 1613 and died in Rome that same year.
Il Cigoli was the most prominent painter in Florence at the end of the 16th century and the first major representative of the "early Baroque" style. He revolutionized the practice of painting and drawing in Florence, much like the Carracci family did in Bologna around the same time. His work moved away from the "Mannerism" of the previous generation, tending towards a naturalism that became the preferred means of expression for the new religious fervor associated with the Counter-Reformation. Although his painting was rooted in the Florentine tradition, he also sought inspiration beyond the city and was greatly influenced by Federico Barocci (c. 1535-1612) and the Venetians. Like his painting, his drawing style was highly influential, profoundly affecting the entire next generation of Florentine artists. The large number of his drawings which have been preserved (mainly at the Uffizi Gallery in Florence) demonstrate the importance of draftsmanship in his work.

2. Description of the drawing and related artworks
Il Cigoli depicts Christ's triumphal entry into Jerusalem, an episode that follows the resurrection of Lazarus in Bethany and opens the Passion narrative. It is also one of the few episodes mentioned in three Gospels (John 12:13-15; Matthew 21:1-11 and Luke 19:28-40).
In keeping with Counter-Reformation tradition, Il Cigoli's drawing closely follows the Gospel account: Christ, riding on a donkey, is acclaimed by a large crowd; “a very large crowd spread their cloaks on the road, while others cut branches from the trees and spread them on the road." While we see a young man climbing a tree to cut branches in the upper right corner, others branches have already been scattered on the ground beneath the donkey's hooves. The bearded figure in the background on the right is holding a cloak he has just spread on the ground.
In this oblong drawing, Cigoli remains faithful to the Mannerist tradition of elongating figures, as demonstrated by the disproportionately long arm of the kneeling figure with a partially naked torso in the front row on the left. With this off-center perspective "à la Bibiena" , which draws us in with Christ under the monumental arch to follow him into Jerusalem, like the figure shown from behind on the right, this drawing already heralds a distinctly Baroque dynamic.
A magnificent drawing of similar dimensions, kept at the Städel Museum in Frankfurt, faithfully reproduces this same composition.
Enhanced with a wash in a darker blue than the turquoise ink used in our drawing, this drawing from the Städel Museum is also more accomplished: the use of wash is much more systematic (including in the background area inside the arch, which is only roughly sketched in pen in our drawing), and the contrasts inside the areas worked with wash are stronger. Several details have also been completed in pen, such as the coffers of the archway under which Christ is about to enter, and the eagle crowning the palace in the background. The laying down of a grid indicates that it was most probably used in the creation of the altarpiece for the church of Santa Croce.
The final canvas, which is still in the Santa Croce Church in Florence, shows several variations compared to the two preparatory studies.
This painting was probably commissioned around 1604, before Il Cigoli’s transfer to Rome, by the Serristori brothers, a patrician family from Florence, who were the benefactors of the altar for which it was intended. Left unfinished in Florence when the painter left for Rome, it was sent to him in Rome in 1610, and Il Cigoli was still working on it shortly before his death. He is reported to have given instructions to Giovanni Bilivert for its completion. The canvas was then restored in the 17th century by Bartolomeo Salvestrini to correct some damage caused by damp.
Il Cigoli is reported to have painted the head and clothes of Christ, as well as the two figures on the far right (the beardless old man and the child carrying an armful of branches on the right). The introduction of this child is one of the main differences between the painting and the two preparatory drawings: this group of two figures (the one who seemed to be running behind Christ and the child on his right) is now depicted in reverse, which gives more space to the child carrying branches, but removes the dynamic aspect of the running man.
The rest of the composition has also been simplified. While the two kneeling figures on the left (including the one in the front row with the exaggeratedly long arm) are still there, the woman standing on the left just above them has lost the child she was holding in her arms, and several figures (including the woman who was just behind her) have disappeared. As is often the case with works from the late Renaissance, the final work seems rather static and somewhat stilted compared to the freedom of execution in the two preparatory drawings.

3. Framing
We have chosen to frame this drawing with an Italian frame whose faux marble paint, in shades of blue, brings out its delicate wash.

Main bibliographic references :
Anna Matteoli Lodovico Cardi-Cigoli Pittore e Architetto – Pisa 1980
Franco Faranda Ludovico Cardi detto il Cigoli – Roma 1986