Studies of a Man's Head and of His Hands
Federico Barocci Italian
Not on view
These large studies of heads and hands, broadly modeled in colored chalks, were preparatory for the figure of an apostle seated at the table near Christ in Barocci’s monumental canvas The Last Supper. The painting was an important commission by Guidobaldo II Della Rovere, Duke of Urbino and Pesaro, and was executed by Barocci between 1592 and 1599 for the Chapel of the Holy Sacrament in the Urbino Cathedral, where it still hangs. Here, the use of black, white, and peach chalks on blue paper and the sculptural quality of the forms are typical of the artist, who was among the most prolific draftsmen of all time. The Last Supper was one of Barocci’s last paintings, for which he produced more than fifty drawings, a fact that attests to the meticulous care of his creative process.
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