2008.261: Standing Helmeted Male Nude Unsheathing a Dagger

Identification and Creation

Object Number

2008.261

People

Francesco Monti, Italian (Bologna 1685 - 1768 Brescia)

Title

Standing Helmeted Male Nude Unsheathing a Dagger

Classification

Drawings

Work Type

drawing

Date

18th century

Culture

Italian

Persistent Link

https://hvrd.art/o/320977

Physical Descriptions

Medium

Black chalk on cream antique laid paper adhered to cream card

Dimensions

44 x 30 cm (17 5/16 x 11 13/16 in.)

Inscriptions and Marks

• inscription: black chalk, lower right: 18
• inscription: verso, brown ink, top left: 663
• inscription: verso, graphite, top left: 28
• inscription: verso, graphite, top right: 4

Provenance

Recorded Ownership History

Colnaghi, London ("An Exhibition of Old Master Drawings," June 28-July 21, 1984, no. 33, repr.); Jeffrey E. Horvitz, Boston (acquired in 1984); gift to Harvard Art Museum, 2008

Acquisition and Rights

Credit Line

Harvard Art Museums/Fogg Museum, Gift of Jeffrey E. Horvitz

Accession Year

2008

Object Number

2008.261

Division

European and American Art

Contact

am_europeanamerican@harvard.edu

Permissions

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Descriptions

Commentary

Monti, one of the most distinguished Emilian artists of his generation, worked in a neo-Mannerist style that was popular during the first half of the eighteenth century. Respect and admiration for his talent eventually led to innumerable prestigious commissions and his elevation to the post of Principe of the Accademia Clementina (the artistic academy of Bologna).

The supple contours and the replacement of cross-hatching with a subtle blending of chalks to achieve various levels of contrast makes this study a perfect example of why Monti's draftsmanship has often been viewed as the most eloquent example of the so-called soft-chalk style. A number of these studies, probably dating to the 1720s, once part of the Academia Clementina's teaching collection, are now in the Pinacoteca Nazionale in Bologna. The numbers at the bottom right of this sheet and on other drawings in this group--often misunderstood as the numbering of sketchbook pages--is almost certainly related to the classification system used to organize the drawings when they were in the academy's collection.

Publication History

• An Exhibition of Old Master Drawings, auct. cat., P. & D. Colnaghi & Co. Ltd. (London, 1984), no. 33, repr.
• Linda Wolk-Simon, Italian Old Master Drawings from the Collection of Jeffrey E. Horvitz, exh. cat., University of Florida (Gainesville, FL, 1991), no. 26, repr.
• Renaissance to Futurism: Italian Drawings 1500-1920, auct. cat., Stephen Ongpin (London, 2015), under no. 39, note 6
• Elena Rossoni, Studi di nudi virili di Francesco Monti alla Pinacoteca Nazionale di Bologna, Aperto, Pinacoteca Nazionale Bologna (Bologna, June 2016), no. 3, pp. 26-46, pp. 36-37, repr. p. 37 as fig. 16

Exhibition History

• Italian Old Master Drawings from the Collection of Jeffrey E. Horvitz, Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art, Gainsville, 07/12/1991 - 09/08/1991; Spencer Museum of Art, Lawrence, 10/06/1991 - 11/17/1991; Minneapolis Institute of Arts, Minneapolis, 12/14/1991 - 02/16/1992; Harvard University Art Museums, Cambridge, 08/15/1992 - 10/11/1992; Taft Museum, Cincinnati, 11/19/1992 - 01/10/1993; Museum of Fine Arts, Montreal, Montreal, 01/29/1993 - 03/21/1993
• Ancient to Modern, Harvard Art Museums, Cambridge, 01/31/2012 - 06/01/2013

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