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A Seated Slave

mid-18th–early 19th century
Not on view
A contemporary of Domenico Tiepolo, Novelli was a decorative painter and prolific draftsman. This drawing is a copy after one of the four bronze sculptures of slaves on the base of the monument to the Grand Duke Ferdinand I de’ Medici of Tuscany (Piazza Giuseppe Micheli, Livorno, Italy). These highly dynamic figures of bronze enchained captives, positioned at the four corners of the pedestal in crouching postures, were designed by the sculptor Pietro Tacca and installed in 1626. The marble statue of Ferdinand I surmounting the pedestal was sculpted by Giovanni Bandini, whose work is exhibited nearby.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: A Seated Slave
  • Artist: Pietro Antonio Novelli (Italian, Venice 1729–1804 Venice)
  • Date: mid-18th–early 19th century
  • Medium: Pen and black ink, gray wash, over black chalk
  • Dimensions: 18 1/8 x 12 3/16 in. (46 x 31 cm)
  • Classification: Drawings
  • Credit Line: Robert Lehman Collection, 1975
  • Object Number: 1975.1.389
  • Curatorial Department: The Robert Lehman Collection

More Artwork

More Artwork
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Head of a Man, Pietro Antonio Novelli Italian, Pen and black ink
Head of a Man
Pietro Antonio Novelli
n.d.
Meeting of Saint Paul the Hermit and Saint Anthony Abbot
Pietro Antonio Novelli
1761
Satirical drawing: Artist Painting an Old Lady's Portrait, Pietro Antonio Novelli Italian, Pen and gray ink, brush and gray wash, and gray, brown, red, blue, yellow and green watercolor. Framing lines in pen and brown ink
Satirical drawing: Artist Painting an Old Lady's Portrait
Pietro Antonio Novelli
1729–1804
Design for a Trade Card, Pietro Antonio Novelli Italian, Pen and brown ink, gray wash
Design for a Trade Card
Pietro Antonio Novelli
mid-18th century
Half-Length Study for a Portrait of a Young Man, Pietro Antonio Novelli Italian, Pen and brown ink, gray wash, with touches of pink and blue in the face
Half-Length Study for a Portrait of a Young Man
Pietro Antonio Novelli
mid-18th–early 19th century

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