| Agnolo Bronzino (Italian, 1503–1572) Standing Nude Seen from the Rear, ca. 1541–42 Black chalk on paper prepared with mustard or yellow ocher color; sheet: 16 15/16 x 6 1/4 in. (43 x 15.9 cm) Gabinetto Disegni e Stampe degli Uffizi, Florence. | |
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| Drawn from life, though inspired by a small Roman bronze, the Idolino (Museo Archeologico, Florence), this magnificent study is among the best published of Bronzino's drawings. The technique of subtle parallel hatching and cross-hatching, selectively blended for a soft sfumato effect on paper prepared with color, seems to emulate the surface of metal sculpture. The drawing was preparatory for the youth in the left foreground of The Crossing of the Red Sea and Moses Appointing Joshua, the lunette fresco on the south wall of the Chapel of Eleonora di Toledo, which was the first of the walls to be painted. It is precisely datable, given that the inscription scratched on the marble door frame by the Brazen Serpent fresco in the chapel states: "On Tuesday on the 6th day of September [1541], the story of the pharaoh was begun; on the 30th day of March 1542, the story of pharaoh was finished." _ metropolitan museum, new york . |
