Allegory
1532–77
Medium
Pen and ink over red chalk
Dimensions
9-1/8 x 7-15/16 in. (23.2 x 20.2 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Cephas G. Thompson, 1887
Accession Number
87.12.161
Tags
Art Historical Context
Orazio Samacchini (1532–1577), a Bolognese artist active during the late Renaissance, created this compact drawing as a study for a larger composition. Working in Emilia-Romagna at a time when artists balanced the graceful ideals of Raphael with emerging Mannerist tendencies, Samacchini frequently explored allegorical themes that conveyed moral or philosophical ideas through the human figure. Executed in pen and ink over red chalk, the sheet reveals the artist’s working process. The underlying red chalk allowed him to explore poses and anatomy freely, while the confident pen lines refined the...