POLIDORO DA CARAVAGGIO
33 Study of a Man with Various
Sketches'
Study of a Man's Draped Leg
Red chalk, recently reassembled after having been cut
into an irregular shape; H: 20.6 cm (8 Vs in.); W: 18. 5 cm
(7^4 in.)
84.06.31MARKS AND INSCRIPTIONS: (Recto) at left, inscribed
Paulo in brown ink by a later hand.
PROVENANCE: Private collection, France (sale, Hotel
Drouot, Paris, February 15, 1984, lot 35).
EXHIBITIONS: None.
BIBLIOGRAPHY: None.THE CURRENT APPEARANCE OF THIS SHEET DIFFERS
markedly from that at the time of its sale in Paris in 1984.
As was discovered by A. Yow, who is responsible for its
restoration, the arm now situated at the right margin of
the recto formerly was attached incorrectly along the
lower edge.
This sheet is clearly related to a pair of studies in the
British Museum, London (inv. 1953-5-9-45°* 1953-5-9-
45I).^1 Those drawings depict partial studies of a male fig-
ure with his left arm upraised; in neither case does the
right side of the figure appear. The graphic character of
the two studies in London is closely comparable to that
of the Museum's sheet, with a similar care taken in the
analysis of anatomy; they tend to be bolder in chiar-
oscuro effect, however. It is very likely that all three draw-
ings were made during the artist's time in Messina and in
connection with a scene of martyrdom, perhaps analo-
gous to the one depicted on another sheet in the British
Museum (inv. I946-4-I3-2I4).^2
verso- F. Clapp, Les dessins de Pontormo (Paris, 1914), p. 222.
- Ibid., no. 199 verso.
86 ITALIAN SCHOOL • CARAVAGGIO