A Shepherd Addressing a Seated Male Nude
Medium
Pen and brown ink, brush and brown wash, highlighted with white gouache, over black chalk, on blue paper
Dimensions
sheet: 10 1/16 x 11 1/8 in. (25.5 x 28.2 cm) maximum; irregular borders
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Anonymous Gift, 2006
Accession Number
2006.393.16
Tags
Art Historical Context
Alessandro Magnasco, an Italian artist active in the late Baroque period, created this intriguing drawing of a shepherd addressing a seated male nude. Known for his expressive and often theatrical figure studies, Magnasco frequently explored pastoral and mythological themes with a sense of movement and emotion that set his work apart from more static compositions of his time. The medium—pen and brown ink with brush and brown wash, heightened by white gouache over black chalk on blue paper—allows for rich contrasts of light and shadow. This technique was popular among 17th- and 18th-century dr...
About the Artist
Alessandro Magnasco · 1667–1749
Comment on works: Religious