Currently not on view
Head of a Putto,
1527–37
Domenico Beccafumi, 1484–1551; born Cortine in Valdibiana Montaperti, Italy; died Siena, Italy
x1948-606
Beccafumi was a highly individual and inventive artist who developed an independent style inspired by a variety of sources while working almost exclusively in Siena during the first half of the sixteenth century. The two oil sketches on the left demonstrate his fluid technique and subtle manipulation of light and shade to create lively head studies. The dark background accentuates these effects, intensifying the appearance of small highlights. These sheets belong to a group of twenty-three surviving works closely related in date and style to his vibrant frescoes in the Palazzo Pubblico in Siena, a commission awarded to him in 1529.
Information
Title
Head of a Putto
Dates
1527–37
Maker
Medium
Brush and oil paint on brown laid paper
Dimensions
20.7 × 17.4 cm (8 1/8 × 6 7/8 in.)
frame: 36.8 × 31.1 × 4.8 cm (14 1/2 × 12 1/4 × 1 7/8 in.)
Credit Line
Bequest of Dan Fellows Platt, Class of 1895
Object Number
x1948-606
Reference Numbers
Gibbons 43
Culture
Type
Materials
Subject
- Jacob Judey, Domenico Beccafumi, Phil. Diss Freiburg i.B., 1932., p. 149, no. 229
- Agnes Mongan and Paul J. Sachs, Drawings in the Fogg Museum of Art, (Cambridge, MA, Harvard University Press, 1940-)., p. 54
- Donato Sanminiatelli, "The sketches of Domenico Beccafumi", Burlington magazine 97, no. 623 (Feb., 1955): p. 35-41., p. 36
-
Old master drawings: [Exhibition] March 17-May 22, 1960, (Newark, NJ: Newark Museum, 1960).
, no. 62 - Jacob Bean, Italian drawings in the Art Museum, Princeton University; 106 selected examples, (New York: October House, 1966)., no. 14
- Donato Sanminiatelli, Domenico Beccafumi, (Milano, Bramante, 1967)., p. 128
- Janos Scholz, "Italian Drawings in the Art Museum of Princeton University," Burlington Magazine 109 no. 770 (May, 1967): p. 290-299., p. 293
- Felton Gibbons, Catalogue of Italian Drawings in The Art Museum, Princeton University, (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1977)., Vol. 1: pp. 9-10, no. 24 (illustrated in Vol. 2 under the same catalog number)
- Piero Torriti, Beccafumi, (Milano, Electa, 1998)., pp. 300-301, nos. D108, D 109
- 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. 100, cat. no. 42; p. 102 (illus.)
