Day 0039
Today's study is after a drawing by Simone Cantarini that I saw last year on display at the Uffizi. It is lucky that I took a photo of it because there are no copies of it online, save for one from an obscure PDF in Italian, which will almost certainly disappear when the Uffizi update their website.
Now admittedly it is not the world's greatest drawing, and Cantarini is not a particularly famous nor well-loved artist, but it is a serene and sensitive drawing nonetheless, and I am shocked that as far as the internet is concerned it doesn't exist. Provincial galleries would be glad to have it in their collections, and I'm sure a private collector would pay good money for it. And yet, you can't find it online, and you'd be lucky to see it on display.
I feel strongly that galleries and museums should make their collections available online, under the most permissive licensing terms possible. This is where the Rijksmuseum stands out from all others -- it makes all of its high-quality images available for you to do what you like with. Isn't the mission of a good gallery or museum to encourage the widest possible enjoyment of their work? To reach new audiences? To inspire and educate? If the Uffizi burned to the ground, works like this would be lost from memory forever. Put them online, even if they are almost never seen. They will at least persist for future generations.
I think this piece would be a good teaching tool; it hasn't the complexities nor the refinement of a masterwork, but it hints at them, and helps you see the difference between what makes a work great and merely very good.