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About the Artwork
This drawing formed part of the painter Federico Barocci's painstaking working method, which began with studies from nature, included sculpted models in wax, and concluded with full-scale cartoons in color. A detailed figure study such as this would have followed numerous compositional and life studies in preparation for the final cartoon. The squares drawn over the figure indicate it was meant to be transferred to a larger format. Barocci may have made this drawing as a preparatory study for his large altarpiece depicting the Martyrdom of St. Sebastian intended for the Bonaventura Chapel in the Urbino cathedral. The legs of the putto were used in his final rendering of the Christ Child in that composition. The technique of using black and colored chalks reflects the introduction, in the 1560s, of colored chalks (called "pastelli") to Italy, knowledge of which likely spread from Venice down the Adriatic coast to Barocci's home in Urbino.
Inscriptions
lower left, in brown ink: [illegible]; verso, upper left, in graphite: 4 [circled]; upper center left, incised: adamid[i?] bl / hotel f[o?] / Chateau Front[as?]
Provenance
before 1858: Giuseppe Vallardi (1784-1863), Milan (Lugt 1223) ?-1858: A. Mouriau (active ca. 1800-1860), Belgium (Lugt 1853 [see Lugt 1829]) his sale, Paris, 11 March 1858, no. 21. Unidentified collector, stamp not in Lugt. 1969: with Nathan Chaikin (b. 1887), Vaud, Switzerland. 1969-: The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
Exhibition history
Year in Review: 1969. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 27-February 22, 1970). Italian Drawings Selected From Mid-Western Collections. Saint Louis Art Museum, St. Louis, MO (organizer) (February 25-April 16, 1972). The Graphic Art of Frederico Barocci. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 15-March 25, 1978). The Graphic Art of Federico Barocci. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 15-March 26, 1978). The Graphic Art of Frederico Barocci. Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven, CT (April 15-June 4, 1978). The Draftsman's Eye: Late Italian Renaissance Schools and Styles. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 6-April 22, 1979). Connoisseurship in Italian Figural Compositions. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 21, 1980-February 15, 1981). Concept, Dogma and Feeling: Italian Drawings 1550-1650. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 27-October 20, 1991). Master Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 27-October 17, 2000); The Morgan Library & Museum, New York, NY (May 23-August 19, 2001); Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Houston, TX (October 14, 2001-January 6, 2002).
Quick Overview
- Artist
- Federico Barocci (Italian, 1528–1612)
- Date
- c. 1560s
- Medium
- black chalk with pastel (stumped in places), heightened with white chalk, squared with black chalk; framing lines in graphite
- Dimensions
- Sheet: 42.4 x 27.2 cm (16 11/16 x 10 11/16 in.)
- Type
- Drawing
- Classification
- Drawing
- Department
- Drawings
- Credit line
- Dudley P. Allen and Delia E. Holden Funds
- Accession no.
- 1969.70
More by Federico Barocci in museum collections
Data retrieved from the Cleveland Museum of Art on October 8, 2026. The museum may have updated its record since.
Open-access museum record · AT-00010998
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