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Two Studies of a Seated Male Nude Seen from the Back

1596–1602
Not on view
The nude figure above holds the sawlike "bretessed bend" that figures, with six stars, in the arms of Pope Clement VIII Aldobrandini (1536-1605, r. 1592-1605). Many such nude figures holding these emblems appear, in large or small scale, in the frescoed vault of the Sala Clementina in the Vatican Palace painted between 1596 and 1602 by the brothers Giovanni and Cherubino Alberti. The dismembered sketchbook from which this drawing came contained at least five other chalk studies of 'ignudi' associable with the Sala Clementina vault fresco. In addition, there are studies for these nude figures in the Biblioteca Ambrosiana, Milan (see: Bora, 1976, no. 149, as Giovanni Alberti) and in the Philadelphia Museum of Art (1977, pp. 271-2; repr, Bollettino d'arte, LXV, 5, 1980, p. 51, fig. 22, as Giovanni Alberti).

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Two Studies of a Seated Male Nude Seen from the Back
  • Artist: attributed to Cherubino Alberti (Zaccaria Mattia) (Italian, Borgo Sansepolcro 1553–1615 Rome)
  • Date: 1596–1602
  • Medium: Red chalk, with some contours reinforced in pen and brown ink. Upper right corner replaced
  • Dimensions: 7-13/16 x 5-1/4 in. (19.8 x 13.3 cm)
  • Classification: Drawings
  • Credit Line: Harry G. Sperling Fund, 1980
  • Object Number: 1980.17.1
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

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Vases and Goblets
Multiple artists/makers
16th century
Mary Magdalen standing on clouds, being transported to heaven by angels, Cherubino Alberti (Zaccaria Mattia) Italian, Engraving
Mary Magdalen standing on clouds, being transported to heaven by angels
Cherubino Alberti (Zaccaria Mattia)
1570–1615
The Martyrdom of Saint Cristina di Bolsena with God the Father above, Cherubino Alberti (Zaccaria Mattia) Italian, Engraving
The Martyrdom of Saint Cristina di Bolsena with God the Father above
Cherubino Alberti (Zaccaria Mattia)
1570–1615
Saint Susanna in an interior holding an open book in her left hand, a palm in her right, a landscape visible through a window at right and at bottom center a coat of arms, Cherubino Alberti (Zaccaria Mattia) Italian, Engraving
Saint Susanna in an interior holding an open book in her left hand, a palm in her right, a landscape visible through a window at right and at bottom center a coat of arms
Cherubino Alberti (Zaccaria Mattia)
Alessandro Alberti
1578
Madonna holding a lily branch with the Christ Child on her lap, seated on clouds, surrounded by cherub heads, Cherubino Alberti (Zaccaria Mattia) Italian, Engraving
Madonna holding a lily branch with the Christ Child on her lap, seated on clouds, surrounded by cherub heads
Cherubino Alberti (Zaccaria Mattia)
1570–1615

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