Male nude, carrying a piece of wood
Drawing
mid 16th century (drawn)
mid 16th century (drawn)
| Artist/Maker | |
| Place of origin |
This drawing is a study for a figure in The Martyrdom of St Lawrence, painted in the late 1570s by the Venetian artist Tintoretto. St Lawrence, a Christian martyr, was roasted on a gridiron for refusing to give the Roman authorities the Church's money. This study is for the figure of a man carrying faggots for the fire. In the finished painting he is on the lower right-hand side.
‘Tintoretto’ was the nickname of Jacopo Robusti, whose father was a ‘tintore’ (cloth-dyer). Unusually for his time, Tintoretto worked out a lot of his ideas directly onto the canvas. This means that preparatory drawings such as this study are relatively rare - about 130 survive. They are quite roughly and quickly drawn, with almost no drawings of whole compositions. Most show only a single figure or a small group. The V&A holds 11 of these important drawings (Dyce 235-236, Dyce 239-247). All except one once belonged to the distinguished English portrait painter Sir Joshua Reynolds.
‘Tintoretto’ was the nickname of Jacopo Robusti, whose father was a ‘tintore’ (cloth-dyer). Unusually for his time, Tintoretto worked out a lot of his ideas directly onto the canvas. This means that preparatory drawings such as this study are relatively rare - about 130 survive. They are quite roughly and quickly drawn, with almost no drawings of whole compositions. Most show only a single figure or a small group. The V&A holds 11 of these important drawings (Dyce 235-236, Dyce 239-247). All except one once belonged to the distinguished English portrait painter Sir Joshua Reynolds.
Object details
| Category | |
| Object type | |
| Title | Male nude, carrying a piece of wood (popular title) |
| Materials and techniques | Black and white chalk on paper |
| Brief description | Tintoretto, Jacopo; Drawing of a male nude carrying a piece of wood; Executed in black chalk on faded blue paper, squared; Venice; Mid-16th century. |
| Physical description | Drawing in black chalk, heightened with white, on faded blue paper depicting a male nude carrying a piece of wood. Squared in black chalk. |
| Dimensions |
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| Style | |
| Marks and inscriptions | 'Giacomo Tintoretto' (Inscription in ink. This inscription is in the same hand as on Ward Jackson cat. no. 328, Dyce 239.) |
| Credit line | Bequeathed by Rev. Alexander Dyce |
| Object history | Part of a bequest from the Reverend Alexander Dyce, 1869. 12 drawings by Tintoretto and members of his school in the Dyce Bequest were previously in Sir Joshua Reynold's collection (Lugt 2364). A thirteenth work by Tintoretto in the Dyce Bequest does not appear to have belonged to Reynolds (Lugt, Supplement 419a, Ward Jackson cat. no. 332). See Ward Jackson, cat. nos. 328-340. N.B. cat. nos. 328-338 are inscribed with the artist's name in the same 18th century hand. This study is for the man bearing faggots on the right in The Martyrdom of St Lawrence in Christ Church, Oxford. |
| Subject depicted | |
| Summary | This drawing is a study for a figure in The Martyrdom of St Lawrence, painted in the late 1570s by the Venetian artist Tintoretto. St Lawrence, a Christian martyr, was roasted on a gridiron for refusing to give the Roman authorities the Church's money. This study is for the figure of a man carrying faggots for the fire. In the finished painting he is on the lower right-hand side. ‘Tintoretto’ was the nickname of Jacopo Robusti, whose father was a ‘tintore’ (cloth-dyer). Unusually for his time, Tintoretto worked out a lot of his ideas directly onto the canvas. This means that preparatory drawings such as this study are relatively rare - about 130 survive. They are quite roughly and quickly drawn, with almost no drawings of whole compositions. Most show only a single figure or a small group. The V&A holds 11 of these important drawings (Dyce 235-236, Dyce 239-247). All except one once belonged to the distinguished English portrait painter Sir Joshua Reynolds. |
| Bibliographic references |
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| Collection | |
| Accession number | DYCE.241 |
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| Record created | August 8, 2006 |
| Record URL |
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