Design for the Frame of an Altarpiece for the Tomicki Chapel in Wawel Cathedral, Kraków (Poland)

This drawing by the Nuremberg artist Georg Pencz contains the design for a classicizing architectural altar surround meant for the chapel of Piotr Tomicki, Bishop of Krakow, which is one of several works executed by Pencz for Wawel Cathedral in the 1530s. To the general public, Pencz is chiefly known as one of the so-called Little Masters (Kleinmeister): a group of Nuremberg artists who excelled at making prints at a diminutive scale. This association overshadows the wider success he enjoyed as an artist, including his appointment as city painter of Nuremberg, following the death of Albrecht Durer. Pencz would hold this position for nearly two decades. The drawing stands out for its strong Italian sensibilities, which that may have been inspired by one or two sojourns in Italy that he is thought to have undertaken. In addition, Pencz's design may also have been influenced by the strong Italian representation in Krakow, where King Sigismund I employed Italian architects to design and execute his own chapel in Wawel Cathedral. Bishop Tomicki, Pencz's patron for this commission, similarly patronized many Italian artists and his deep interest in Italian art and culture even earned him the nickname "The Italian".