A nude male body, depicted from the knees upwards, is drawn in red chalk.
Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College
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Photo © President and Fellows of Harvard College

A nude male body, depicted from the knees upwards, is drawn in red chalk. He leans back and turns his head over his shoulder towards the viewer. This pose and the flattened shape of his buttocks suggests he is about to move or stand up. While his body is carefully modeled to give a sense of his lean and tensed musculature, his facial features and arms are less detailed. His quickly drawn face, studded with Pontormo’s characteristic round eyes, appears surprised.

Identification and Creation

Object Number
1932.144
People
Pontormo (Jacopo Carrucci da Pontormo), Italian (Pontormo, Italy 1494 - 1557 Florence, Italy)
Title
Reclining Nude Youth
Classification
Drawings
Work Type
drawing
Date
c. 1537-1542
Places
Creation Place: Europe, Italy, Tuscany, Florence
Culture
Italian
Persistent Link
https://hvrd.art/o/299860

Physical Descriptions

Medium
Red chalk on cream antique laid paper
Dimensions
29.5 x 19.8 cm (11 5/8 x 7 13/16 in.)
Inscriptions and Marks
  • inscription: Inscribed, verso, graphite, upper left: c/8
  • watermark: Paschal Lamb (close to Briquet 47, 49 and 50)

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History
Charles A. Loeser, Florence, Italy, bequest; to Fogg Art Museum, 1932

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line
Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Bequest of Charles A. Loeser
Accession Year
1932
Object Number
1932.144
Division
European and American Art
Contact
am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu
Permissions

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Publication History

  • F. M. Clapp, Les Dessins de Pontormo (Paris, France, 1914), p. 85
  • Bernard Berenson, The Drawings of the Florentine Painters, University of Chicago Press (Chicago, IL, 1938), vol. II, no. 1955B, p. 273
  • Agnes Mongan and Paul J. Sachs, Drawings in the Fogg Museum of Art, Harvard University Press (Cambridge, 1940), vol. 1, cat. no. 144, p. 83; vol. 2, repr. fig. 82
  • Winslow Ames, Great Drawings of All Time [vol. 1: Italian], ed. Ira Moskowitz, Shorewood Publishers Inc. (New York, 1962), cat. no. 205, n.p., repr. color
  • Janet Cox-Rearick, The Drawings of Pontormo, Harvard University Press (Cambridge, MA, 1964), vol. I, p. 306, no. 340; vol. II, fig. 318
  • Drawings and Prints of the First Maniera 1515-1535, exh. cat., Rhode Island School of Design Museum of Art (Providence, RI, 1973), cat. no. 57, repr.
  • Konrad Oberhuber, ed., Old Master Drawings: Selections from the Charles A. Loeser Bequest, Fogg Art Museum (Cambridge, MA, 1979), cat. no. 16, pp. 44-45, repr.
  • Debora Mayer, "Technical Examination of Red Chalk" (thesis (certificate in conservation), Straus Center for Conservation and Technical Studies, 1982), Unpublished, pp. 1-33 passim
  • Agnes Mongan, Konrad Oberhuber, and Jonathan Bober, The Famous Italian Drawings at the Fogg Art Museum in Cambridge, Silvana Editoriale (Milan, Italy, 1988), cat. no. 26, n.p., and pp. 32 and 36, repr. color
  • Laura Giles, "'Christ before Pilate': A Major Composition Study by Pontormo", Art Institute of Chicago Museum Studies, The Art Institute of Chicago (Chicago, IL, 1991), vol. XVII, no. 1, p. 89, note 3
  • Harriet K. Stratis, "The Technical Aspects of Pontormo's 'Christ before Pilate' ", Art Institute of Chicago Museum Studies, The Art Institute of Chicago (Chicago, IL, 1991), vol. 17, no. 1, p. 92, note 5
  • Masterpieces of world art : Fogg Art Museum, Arthur M. Sackler Museum, Busch-Reisinger Museum, 1997
  • Carlo Francini, "L'inventario della collezione Loeser alla Villa Gattaia", Bollettino della Società di Studi Fiorentini (2000), no. 6, p. 118 ("Cartella con due stelle nere")

Exhibition History

  • Anxiety and Elegance: The Human Figure in Italian Art, 1520-1580, Fogg Art Museum, Cambridge, 05/01/1962 - 05/25/1962
  • Mannerism, Montgomery Gallery, Claremont, 12/05/1963 - 12/31/1963
  • Drawings and Prints of the First Maniera 1515-1535, Rhode Island School of Design Museum, Providence, 02/22/1973 - 03/25/1973
  • 32Q: 2540 Renaissance, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 01/31/2017 - 04/20/2017

Verification Level

This record has been reviewed by the curatorial staff but may be incomplete. Our records are frequently revised and enhanced. For more information please contact the Division of European and American Art at am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu