This recently discovered monumental double-sided sheet is the only extant major cartoon by Salviati, and is a unique case for the sixteenth century of a utilized, double-sided cartoon (full-scale drawing). Francesco Salviati was one of the great exponents of Mannerism in Italy. The cartoons on both sides of the sheet relate to the design and painting of one of the most important fresco cycles by Salviati, in the private chapel—or Cappella del Pallio—of Cardinal Alessandro Farnese (the grandson of Pope Paul III) in the Palazzo della Cancelleria, Rome. The artist executed the preparatory drawings for the project in the winter of 1548–49, and finished the frescoes before May 1549. The drawings on the recto and verso served as cartoons (full-scale drawings) for the frescoes on the underside of the main arch by the altar of the chapel. In modeling the figure of Saint John the Evangelist especially, the artist worked up the white chalk highlights and charcoal to a beautiful marmoreal luster, by rubbing in the individual strokes to obtain smoky, seamlessly unified tones. Saint John the Evangelist is seen in the company of his best known attribute, the eagle on the lower left, but also holding a chalice with a snake to the right. The latter attribute alludes to the priest of the Temple of Diana of Ephesus offering John a poisoned chalice to drink as a test of his faith, which left the saint miraculously unharmed. Two prisoners had previously died from the poison before John was offered the chalice: the saint later resurrected them. In John's hand, the chalice stands as a symbol of Christian faith and the snake as Satan. The cartoon on the verso of the Metropolitan Museum sheet portrays the more mature bearded Saint Mark, also standing in a three-quarter view but facing left and seen from the rear. He holds a book against his hip, while his attribute the lion rests on the lower left.

Open full-size image