Study of a Kneeling Figure (recto); Design for a Festival Chariot (verso)

Cropped abruptly at the top border by an early collector, this remarkably vigorous drawing seems essentially to have functioned as a drapery study, and it appears to have served for an angel or a saint. The agitated, zigzagging folds of the tunic add a highly emotive quality to the figure. The study is done with bold, repeatedly reinforced outlines, pressed onto the paper, while the interior modeling remains relatively light on the surface. In these qualities, as well as in the choice of the red chalk medium, the study seems very close to the drawings of Jacopo Pontormo (1494-1556), as has been suggested by a previous scholar, and possibly dates to the 1530s. Given that Pontormo's drawing style was also emulated by a later generation of Florentine artists, however, the hypothesis for an attribution should be made with caution. The verso side of this drawing offers a design for a festival chariot in pen and brown ink.