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Head of an Old Woman Looking to Lower Right (Saint Elizabeth)

1584–86
Not on view
Barocci was among the pioneers of the oil sketch in Italy. This dazzling full-scale study in color was preparatory for the figure of Saint Elizabeth in his famous Visitation altarpiece in the Church of Santa Maria in Vallicella or "Chiesa Nuova," Rome, painted between 1584 and 1586. In the final work, the saint's head would become more idealized and serene of feature, and the technique of execution much less sketchy. Barocci was an indefatigable and stunningly fluent draftsman. For the Visitation altarpiece, he prepared also a great number of small-scale composition sketches and detailed figure studies based on the live model, as well as an imposing cartoon (full-scale drawing) in charcoal (now in the Uffizi, Florence inv. 1784 E). Together with an oil sketch for the head of Saint Joseph (New York, Private collection: see Di Giampaolo 2008) the Museum's sheet was a step of refinement in the design process beyond the cartoon.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Head of an Old Woman Looking to Lower Right (Saint Elizabeth)
  • Artist: Federico Barocci (Italian, Urbino ca. 1535–1612 Urbino)
  • Date: 1584–86
  • Medium: Brush and oil paint
  • Dimensions: 15 3/8 x 10 13/16in. (39.1 x 27.5cm)
  • Classification: Drawings
  • Credit Line: Harry G. Sperling Fund, 1976
  • Object Number: 1976.87.2
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

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The Entombment of Christ, after Barocci
Federico Barocci
after 1573
The Virgin seated on a cloud, Federico Barocci Italian, Etching with some engraving
The Virgin seated on a cloud
Federico Barocci
1580–84
St Francis kneeling facing right receiving the stigmata, to his left there is a monk reading
Federico Barocci
1580–81
The Virgin and Christ Child in an Italianate garden with a fountain, lake, pavillion, and villa; the figures are copied from the rest on the return from Egypt by Barocci
Federico Barocci
after 1582
Saint Francis in the chapel with Christ, the Virgin Mary, and Saint Augustine appearing to him above
Federico Barocci
1581

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