Drapery Study for a Standing Male Figure in Profile Facing Left

1512–17
Not on view
This drapery study for a standing male figure wearing a voluminous mantle was executed in a distinctive drawing technique-featuring soft, very granular black chalk with white chalk highlights-that is closely associated with Fra Bartolommeo and his workshop in Florence. The anatomical features of the figure are awkward in form, in contrast to the accomplished rendering of the draperies, but this is explained by the fact that the study, like a number of others by this artist, were in all probability drawn from a mannequin wearing cast draperies of real cloth (two wooden lay figures are mentioned in the inventory of Fra Bartolommeo's studio and possessions, drafted soon after his death in 1517). Here, the telltale clues of the mannequin are the curiously spherical head and pug-nose, along with the clumpy hands and large feet. The sheet was inscribed by an early collector at lower left del frate (by the friar), a typical reference to Fra Bartolommeo, who took vows in the Dominican order at the convent of San Marco, Florence.

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: Drapery Study for a Standing Male Figure in Profile Facing Left
  • Artist: Workshop of Fra Bartolomeo (Bartolomeo di Paolo del Fattorino) (Italian, Florence 1473–1517 Florence)
  • Date: 1512–17
  • Medium: Black chalk, highlighted with white chalk, on tan paper
  • Dimensions: sheet: 11 x 5 15/16 in. (28 x 15.1 cm)
  • Classification: Drawings
  • Credit Line: Anonymous Gift, 2006
  • Object Number: 2006.393.1
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

Research Resources

The Met provides unparalleled resources for research and welcomes an international community of students and scholars. The Met's Open Access API is where creators and researchers can connect to the The Met collection. Open Access data and public domain images are available for unrestricted commercial and noncommercial use without permission or fee.

To request images under copyright and other restrictions, please use this Image Request form.

Feedback

We continue to research and examine historical and cultural context for objects in The Met collection. If you have comments or questions about this object record, please complete and submit this form. The Museum looks forward to receiving your comments.