Currently not on view
Studies for Saint Sebastian,
ca. 1592–96
Federico Barocci, 1535–1612; born and died Urbino, Italy
x1948-598
Executed for Barocci’s large Crucifixion altarpiece in the cathedral in Genoa, this study for the athletic figure of Saint Sebastian conveys the core of the artist’s preparatory process, in which he refined the lighting and modeling of poses he had already established through studies from life, clay models, or after casts of antique sculptures. Knowing that the altarpiece would complete the decoration of a funerary chapel that included life-size marble statues of family saints, Barocci intended the semi-nude Sebastian to have a competing three-dimensional presence. Employing a battery of devices, Barocci enlivened and particularized each part of Sebastian’s body with flickering shadows and atmospheric sfumato (seamless blending of tones, as in smoke, or fumo), forgoing clinical observation for the desired theatrical effect.
More About This Object
Information
Title
Studies for Saint Sebastian
Dates
ca. 1592–96
Maker
Medium
Black chalk and charcoal, heightened with white chalk, with stumping and touches of red chalk, on tan laid paper prepared with a medium brown wash, squared in black chalk
Dimensions
42.5 × 26.3 cm (16 3/4 × 10 3/8 in.)
frame: 61.1 × 45.7 × 3.2 cm (24 1/16 × 18 × 1 1/4 in.)
Credit Line
Bequest of Dan Fellows Platt, Class of 1895
Object Number
x1948-598
Inscription
Inscribed lower right, in graphite: Baroccio
Reference Numbers
Gibbons 24
Culture
Materials
Subject
From Mongan, “Drawings in the Platt collection”: Preliminary studies for the figure of St. Sebastian in the “Crucifixion” of Genoa Cathedral. (See reference Bib. 4472);
From Scholz, “Italian drawings...”: same level as spectacular example in Metropolitan or Head of Lady at Smith. (See reference Bib. 4382);
Studies for Saint Sebastian: Male Nude Viewed from the Front, and Two Separate Studies of Right
- Agnes Mongan, "Drawings in the Platt Collection", American magazine of art 25, no. 1 (Jul., 1932): p. 47-54., p. 53
- Agnes Mongan, "Notes on drawings: Federigo Baroccio", Old master drawings 7, no. 25 (Jun., 1932): p. 5-6., p. 5-6; pl. 12, 13
- Harald Olsen, Federico Barocci: a critical study in Italian Cinquecento painting, (Stockholm: Almqvist & Wiksell, 1955)., p. 153
- Jacob Bean, Italian drawings in the Art Museum, Princeton University; 106 selected examples, (New York: October House, 1966).
- Janos Scholz, "Italian Drawings in the Art Museum of Princeton University," Burlington Magazine 109 no. 770 (May, 1967): p. 290-299., p. 294, figs. 28, 29
- Visions and revisions: [exhibition] Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, October 10- November 24 1968, (Providence: Museum of Art, Rhodes Island of Design, 1968)., no. 7-2
- Felton Gibbons, Catalogue of Italian Drawings in The Art Museum, Princeton University, (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1977)., Vol. 1: p. 218, no. 706 (illustrated in Vol. 2 under the same catalog number)
- Edmund P. Pillsbury, The graphic art of Federico Barocci: selected drawings and prints, (New Haven, CT: Yale University Art Gallery, 1978)., p. 83-84, cat. no. 62; p. 85 (illus.)
- Andrea Emiliani, Federico Barocci (Urbino 1535-1612), (Bologna: Nuova Alfa Editoriale, 1985)., Vol. 2: p. 309; p. 313, fig. 668
- Princeton University Art Museum: Handbook of the Collection (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2007), p. 189 (illus.)
- Princeton University Art Museum: Handbook of the Collections (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Art Museum, 2013), p. 195
- Laura Giles, Lia Markey, Claire Van Cleave, et. al., Italian Master Drawings from the Princeton University Art Museum, (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Art Museum, 2014)., p. 67, cat. no. 27; p. 68 (illus.); p. 69 (verso illus.)
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Exhibition of Drawings from the Collection of Dan Fellows Platt Loaned to the College Art Association, 1931 - 1932
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Italian Drawings in the Art Museum, Princeton University, October 14, 1966 - May 5, 1968
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An Educated Eye: The Princeton University Art Museum Collection (Friday, February 22, 2008 - Sunday, June 15, 2008)
