Design for a Frescoed Altarpiece of The Resurrection

Art Historical Context

This intricate drawing by Maso da San Fri (Tommaso Manzu), a prominent Florentine Mannerist artist active in the mid-16th century, as a preparatory design for a grand frescoed altarpiece *The Resurrection*. Created around 1560–71, it the dramatic moment of Christ's triumph over death, surrounded by soaring angels, adoring women—likely the Marys—and architectural elements evoking a sacred altar space. Maso, a pupil of Giorgio Vasari, exemplifies Mannerism's elegant elongation of figures and dynamic compositions, blending spiritual fervor with refined humanism during the Catholic Counter-Reformation, when such altarpieces adorned churches to inspire devotion. Executed on distinctive blue paper, the work showcases masterful Renaissance drafting techniques: black chalk underdrawing for initial forms, precise pen and dark brown ink lines, gray-brown wash for modeling shadows, and white gouache highlights for luminous effects. Compass-constructed architecture adds geometric precision, hinting at the fresco's intended scale and illusionistic depth. This layered method allowed artists like Maso to refine ideas before committing to wall painting, a practice central to workshops of the era. Housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Drawings and Prints department (purchase, Guy Wildenstein Gift, 2000), this 11 x 14-inch gem offers a window into the creative process behind monumental religious art, revealing how sketches bridged imagination and sacred spaces in Renaissance Italy.