Study for the Figure of Aeolus

1549–51

Not on view

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.

Artwork Details

Title: Study for the Figure of Aeolus
Artist: Pellegrino Tibaldi (Italian, Puria di Valsolda 1527–1596 Milan)
Date: 1549–51
Medium: Red chalk
Dimensions: sheet: 11 9/16 x 7 3/16 in. (29.4 x 18.2 cm)
Classification: Drawings
Credit Line: Purchase, Sally and Howard Lepow Gift, 2007
Object Number: 2007.127
Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

By Pellegrino Tibaldi

In the same medium

From the same time and place

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Saint John the Baptist Baptizing the Multitude, Pellegrino Tibaldi Italian, Pen and brown ink, brush and brown wash — Saint John the Baptist Baptizing the Multitude
Pellegrino Tibaldi
1554–56

Seated satyr, with enlarged head of same (recto); Head of a woman (verso), Pellegrino Tibaldi Italian, Pen and brown ink, brush and brown wash, with traces of highlighting in white gouache on faded blue paper (recto); black chalk and charcoal highlighted with traces of white chalk (?) (verso) — Seated satyr, with enlarged head of same (recto); Head of a woman (verso)
Pellegrino Tibaldi
1527–96

Six Studies of Animal Heads and of a Cartouche, Pellegrino Tibaldi Italian, Pen and brown ink, with head in upper left corner drawn in red chalk — Six Studies of Animal Heads and of a Cartouche
Pellegrino Tibaldi
Perino del Vaga (Pietro Buonaccorsi)
1527–96

Lucretia, Raphael (Raffaello Sanzio or Santi) Italian, Pen and brown ink over black chalk, partially incised with a stylus (recto); rubbed with black chalk for transfer (verso) — Lucretia
Raphael (Raffaello Sanzio or Santi)
1508–10

Studies for the Libyan Sibyl (recto); Studies for the Libyan Sibyl and a small Sketch for a Seated Figure (verso), Michelangelo Buonarroti Italian, Red chalk, with small accents of white chalk on the left shoulder of the figure in the main study (recto); soft black chalk, or less probably charcoal (verso) — Studies for the Libyan Sibyl (recto); Studies for the Libyan Sibyl and a small Sketch for a Seated Figure (verso)
Michelangelo Buonarroti
ca. 1510–11

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