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Three Male Nudes
Also known as: River Gods; Study for Moses and the Israelites Drinking; Two Reclining Male Nudes
About the Artwork
Domenico Beccafumi was intensely aware of the work of his contemporary Michelangelo when he developed his own style for projects in Siena, south of Florence. This drawing is a study for a chiaroscuro print, a type of woodblock print using several blocks, some colored, to create light and shadow. The drawing features three male nudes whose roles are unknown. The closest figure, reclining with his back toward the viewer, recalls ancient sculptures of river gods as well as works by Michelangelo, including the reclining figures he sculpted for the Medici tombs in Florence.
Inscriptions
tertiary support, along bottom, in brown ink: Becco Fumi, il Mecarino da Siena. 1404-1549 Domenico Beccafumi; lower right, in brown ink: from vol 1.st P. [1?]2.
Provenance
The Earl of Pembroke and Montgomery; [his sale, Sotheby's, London, 10 July 1917, lot 511 (lot included Madonna Ascending to Heaven by Simone Cantarini; sold to Moore according to Cleveland 1979)]; Archibald George Blomefield Russel (Lugt 2770a, lower center, in black ink); [his sale, Sotheby's, London, 9 June 1955, lot 1 (repr.)]; A. Scharf, London (according to Cleveland 1979).
Exhibition history
Decorative Arts of the Italian Renaissance. The Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI (organizer) (November 18, 1958-January 4, 1959). Art and Humanism in the Renaissance. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 23-February 25, 1962). Drawings. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 11-September 10, 1963). Old Master Drawings. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 10-31, 1964). Drawings: France, Italy, Netherlands. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 1-March 24, 1965). Italian Prints and Drawings. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 30-March 26, 1968). Visions & Revisions. Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI (October 18-November 24, 1968). 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). Italian Drawings from the Permanent Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 16, 1986-March 1, 1987). Domenico Beccafumi e il suo tempo. Pinacoteca Nazionale di Siena, Siena, Italy (organizer) (June 16-September 16, 1990). Mannerism: Italian, French, and Netherlandish Prints, 1520-1620. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 3-October 26, 1997). 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). The Chiaroscuro Woodcut in Renaissance Italy. Los Angeles County Museum of Art (organizer) (June 3-September 16, 2018); National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC (October 14, 2018-January 20, 2019). Master/Apprentice: Imitation and Inspiration in the Renaissance. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 13, 2019-February 23, 2020).
Quick Overview
- Artist
- Domenico Beccafumi (Italian, 1486–1551)
- Date
- c. 1540–47
- Medium
- black chalk or charcoal with brush and black chalk or charcoal wash, heightened with white gouache; incised
- Dimensions
- Sheet: 23.2 x 41.7 cm (9 1/8 x 16 7/16 in.); Secondary Support: 23.2 x 41.9 cm (9 1/8 x 16 1/2 in.); Tertiary Support: 24.8 x 42.7 cm (9 3/4 x 16 13/16 in.)
- Type
- Drawing
- Classification
- Drawing
- Department
- Drawings
- Credit line
- Delia E. Holden Fund
- Accession no.
- 1958.313
More by Domenico Beccafumi 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-00011143
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