Studies for a Figure of Saint Francis Kneeling in a Three-Quarter View and for His Hands (recto); Studies for a Figure of Saint Francis Kneeling in Profile (verso)

The recto of this sheet, with studies for a kneeling Saint Francis with his arms extended, relate to the figure of the saint seen in the lower left foreground of the Pietà with Saints (Galleria Nazionale inv. 169, Parma; oil on canvas, 373.8 x 239.7 cm), a monumental altarpiece Annibale painted for the church of the Capuchin Fathers in Parma in 1585. The artist focused his attention on Saint Francis’s hands, as they have a key role in the narrative of the painting, which depicts the saint introducing the viewer to the dead body of Christ. The artist's command of anatomy is evident in the four repeated studies of this detail: one in pen and ink, the rest sharply rendered with red chalk. The saint recorded on this drawing was also possibly reused by the artist for the similar figure painted in a canvas with the St. Francis in Glory now in Venice, Galleria dell'Academia. On the verso, a kneeling Saint Francis in profile with his arms crossed resemble the figure of the saint (in reverse) in the lower left foreground of another altarpiece by Annibale, the Crucifixion with Saints (Santa Maria della Carità, Bologna), dated 1583.
　
The elongated figural type with small head, chiseled facial features, and rapt expression, as well as the arresting control of gesture that is evident in the studies of the hands seem typical of the draftsmanship of the young Annibale rather than that of Ludovico, as has recently been proposed by Babette Bohn and John Cavostal (written communications, 1995 and 1998). Both scholars relate to the drawing for the ‘Mystic Marriage of Saint Catherine of Alexandria’ in Göteborgs Konstmuseum (inv. 1303). While the pose of the figure at first seems rather close, it is difficult to reconcile the style and handling of the drawing to anything presently given to Ludovico in these years. The significant differences in pose and drapery bring it little closer than to Annibale's Pietà, while the looseness of the handling is very much the latter's. A red chalk study for the figure of the dead Christ in the center of the picture is preserved in the Uffizi, Florence (inv. 12418 F). Ann Sutherland Harris lately confirmed the attribution to Annibale Carracci in a written communication to the Museum (2008). (F.R.)