Studies of the Head of an Infant (after a three-dimensional model)

1572–74

Not on view

During the Italian Renaissance, drawing sculptures was a fundamental step in the training of a young draftsman. On this sheet, the artist known as Poppi (from his birthplace in Tuscany) drew a group of six studies of heads after a three-dimensional model, a sculpture or marble relief of a putto or a cherub. The artist changed his position point of view for each study, filling the page with the same motif from various angles in order to achieve a full understanding of its form and volume. The present sheet is directly comparable to a large series of drawings in the Uffizi, Florence done similarly from cast copies and sculptures. This type of smiling, or laughing, infant heads surprisingly resembles examples by Jacopo Sansovino (1486-1570). The sheet may date between Poppi’s 1572 trip to Rome - where he was greatly exposed to sculpture, both antique and contemporary - and 1574, the year of his admission to the Accademia del Disegno in Florence.

Artwork Details

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References

Title: Studies of the Head of an Infant (after a three-dimensional model)
Artist: Poppi (Francesco Morandini) (Italian, Poppi 1544–1597 Florence)
Date: 1572–74
Medium: Black chalk
Dimensions: 6 1/4 x 7 in. (15.9 x 17.8 cm)
Classification: Drawings
Credit Line: Harry G. Sperling Fund, 2003
Object Number: 2003.371
Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

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Study for a Virgin and Child with Two Angels (recto); Two Studies of Hands (verso), Poppi (Francesco Morandini) Italian, Red chalk on off-white paper. Recto: squared in red chalk — Study for a Virgin and Child with Two Angels (recto); Two Studies of Hands (verso)
Poppi (Francesco Morandini)
1544–97

Studies of the Dead Christ supported by an Angel, with subsidiary studies for the same composition, Poppi (Francesco Morandini) Italian, Red and black chalk — Studies of the Dead Christ supported by an Angel, with subsidiary studies for the same composition
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Lucretia, Raphael (Raffaello Sanzio or Santi) Italian, Pen and brown ink over black chalk, partially incised with a stylus (recto); rubbed with black chalk for transfer (verso) — Lucretia
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Studies for the Libyan Sibyl (recto); Studies for the Libyan Sibyl and a small Sketch for a Seated Figure (verso), Michelangelo Buonarroti Italian, Red chalk, with small accents of white chalk on the left shoulder of the figure in the main study (recto); soft black chalk, or less probably charcoal (verso) — Studies for the Libyan Sibyl (recto); Studies for the Libyan Sibyl and a small Sketch for a Seated Figure (verso)
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Three Standing Figures (recto); Seated Woman and a Male Hermit in Half-length (verso), Stefano da Verona (Stefano di Giovanni d'Arbosio di Francia) Italian, Pen and brown ink, over traces of charcoal or black chalk (recto); pen and brown ink, brush with touches of brown wash, over traces of charcoal or black chalk (verso) — Three Standing Figures (recto); Seated Woman and a Male Hermit in Half-length (verso)
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