DescriptionThis drawing is a preparatory study for a ceiling fresco in the Frangipani Chapel in San Marcello al Corso, Rome, the decorations of which were executed by Taddeo Zuccaro between 1558 and 1566, the year of the artist's premature death. Typical of his graphic style is the animated, fluid contour line and the rich combination of media. The densely packed composition and the exaggeratedly posturing, broad-hipped figures exemplify the Mannerist style that dominated Roman painting in the second half of the sixteenth century and of which Taddeo was a leading proponent.

Signatures, Inscriptions, and MarkingsMarks: Watermark: circle with stars
Inscriptions: Annotated in pen on the verso in a seventeenth-century hand: Taddeo Zuccaro 5.4

ProvenancePeter Lely, London, England; [P. & D. Colnaghi & Co., London, England]; acquired by Robert Lehman from Colnaghi in 1960