Along with his brother Federico, Taddeo Zuccaro was one of the leading mid-sixteenth-century painters in Rome, merging an admiration for the masters of the High Renaissance with elements of Mannerist design. In this powerful study of the nude male figure in action, he infused the close observation of naturalistic details with the heroic, sculptural monumentality of Michelangelo, who is said to have greatly admired the young Taddeo's gifts as a draftsman. Dating to about 1550, the study by Zuccaro is related to the figure of a soldier holding the reins of a horse in the foreground of a composition drawing (private collection) intended for a monochrome fresco on a (lost) palace façade in Rome. Though studied from life, the pose of the figure is partly inspired by the famous Roman marble group known as the Horse Tamers (Dioscuri), today on the Quirinal Hill.
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Artwork Details
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Title:Standing Nude Man (recto); Three Studies of Soldiers (verso)
Artist:Taddeo Zuccaro (Italian, Sant'Angelo in Vado 1529–1566 Rome)
Date:1550
Medium:Red chalk, highlighted with traces of white gouache (recto); red chalk (verso)
Dimensions:16-9/16 x 11-5/16 in. (42 x 28.7 cm)
Classification:Drawings
Credit Line:Rogers Fund, 1968
Accession Number:68.113
Inscription: Annotated in pen and brown ink on verso, "Maturino".
Marking: Collector's marks: Carl Köni (Lugt 583) stamped in violet at upper left corner on verso. Unidentified collector's mark "Z" (similar to but somewhat larger than Lugt 2680) stamped in violet at upper left corner on verso (possibly Van Zande and O. Nirenstein, Vienna; information from Sotheby's sale catalogue, March 11, 1968).
Watermark: six-pointed star within a circle.
Carl König (Austrian); Sotheby's, London, March 11, 1964, lot 141 (as Maturino)(sold to Calman for £340); purchased by Hans M. Calmann (British)(for £340); Philip Pouncey (British); Shickman, New York, from whom acquired by the Metropolitan Museum of Art (1968)
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Notable Acquisitions 1965–1975," December 6, 1975–March 23, 1976.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "15th and 16th Century Italian Drawings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art," February 16–April 17, 1983.
Milwaukee Art Museum. "Renaissance into Baroque: Italian Master Drawings by the Zuccari, 1550-1600," November 17, 1989–January 14, 1990.
National Academy Museum. "Renaissance into Baroque: Italian Master Drawings by the Zuccari, 1550-1600," March 13, 1990–April 29, 1990.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Drawings and Prints: Selections from the Permanent Collection," May 6–July 28, 1996.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Drawings and Prints: Selections from the Permanent Collection," September 21–November 30, 1998.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Drawings and Prints: Selections from the Permanent Collection," January 9–April 6, 2006.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Drawings and Prints: Selections from the Permanent Collection," January 8–March 25, 2007.
J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles. "Taddeo and Federico Zuccaro: Artist-Brothers in Renaissance Rome," October 2, 2007–January 6, 2008.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Drawings and Prints: Selection from the Permanent Collection," September 28, 2015–January 7, 2016.
The Property of a Lady. Collection. [Sale catalogue]. Sotheby's, London, London, March 11, 1968, p. 3, lot 141 (as "B.C. Maturino").
Jacob Bean, John J. McKendry "A Fortunate Year." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin. New Series, 27, no. 6, February 1969, pp. 312-13, repr., ill.
John Gere Taddeo Zuccaro: His Development Studied in his Drawings. London, 1969, p. 179, no. 143, pls. 12 (recto), 14 (verso).
John Gere Il Manierismo a Roma. Ed. by Walter Vitzthum, I disegni dei maestri, no. 10, Milan, 1971, fig. 14 (recto), ill.
Jacob Bean "Drawings." The Metropolitan Museum of Art: Notable Acquisitions, 1965-1975. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1975, p. 57, repr.
Jacob Bean Patterns of Collecting: Selected Acquisitions, 1965-1975. Explanatory texts accompanying an exhibition. New York: The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1975, p. 57, ill.
Robert Beverly Hale, Terence Coyle Anatomy Lessons from the Great Masters. New York, 1977, pp. 76, 77, ill.
Jacob Bean, Lawrence Turčić 15th and 16th Century Italian Drawings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1982, pp. 276-77, no. 279, both recto and verso repr.
James Mundy, Elizabeth Ourusoff De Fernandez-Gimenez Renaissance into Baroque: Italian Master Drawings by the Zuccari, 1550 - 1600 Exh. cat., Milwaukee Art Museum (November 17, 1989 - January 14, 1990), and National Academy of Design, New York (March 13 - April 29, 1990). Milwaukee., 1989, pp. 68-69, no. 5, repr., ill.
William M. Griswold, Linda Wolk-Simon Sixteenth Century Italian Drawings in New York Collections. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art (January 11 - March 27, 1994). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1994, pp. 82-84, no. 73, repr.
Julian Brooks Taddeo and Federico Zuccaro: Artist-Brothers in Renaissance Rome. Exh. cat. J. Paul Getty Museum, 2007, p. 51, no. 40.
Marco Simone Bolzoni Il Cavalier Giusepe Cesari d'Arpino: Maestro del disegno. Catalogo ragionato dell'opera grafica. Rome, 2013, p. 113 n. 247.
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