Study for the Figure of Aeolus

This is a study for the figure of Aeolus, ruler of the winds, who aided the ancient Greek hero Ulysses on his journey. About 1549-1551 Tibaldi painted Aeolus on the ceiling of the Sala di Ulisse in the Palazzo Poggi in Bologna . Tibaldi, a painter and an architect, undertook the decorative campaign at the behest of Cardinal Giovanni Poggi (1493-1556) , for whom he had worked in Rome. Together with a drawing in the Musée du Louvre (inv. 10847), this preliminary design relates closely to the fresco, with only minor differences -- for example, the grip of the staff in Aeolus's right hand -- and therefore represents a relatively late stage in the design process. The muscular figure, with his stern gaze and flowing tendrils of beard, reflects the formative impact of Roman art, especially Michelangelo, on Tibaldi. Nevertheless, the delicacy with which Tibaldi described his subject, carefully hatching and crosshatching in red chalk, transposes Michelangelo's awe-inspiring figural language into a more decorative key.