These large studies of heads and hands, broadly modeled in colored chalks, were preparatory for the figure of an apostle seated at the table near Christ in Barocci’s monumental canvas The Last Supper. The painting was an important commission by Guidobaldo II Della Rovere, Duke of Urbino and Pesaro, and was executed by Barocci between 1592 and 1599 for the Chapel of the Holy Sacrament in the Urbino Cathedral, where it still hangs. Here, the use of black, white, and peach chalks on blue paper and the sculptural quality of the forms are typical of the artist, who was among the most prolific draftsmen of all time. The Last Supper was one of Barocci’s last paintings, for which he produced more than fifty drawings, a fact that attests to the meticulous care of his creative process.
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Title:Studies of a Man's Head and of His Hands
Artist:Federico Barocci (Italian, Urbino ca. 1535–1612 Urbino)
Date:1592–99
Medium:Black chalk, highlighted with white chalk and touches of red chalk, on blue-gray paper
Dimensions:11 x 16-1/4 in. (28 x 41.3 cm)
Classification:Drawings
Credit Line:Rogers Fund, 1950
Object Number:50.143
Marking: Collectors' marks: (lower right) (J. S., mark of John, Earl Spencer of Althorp. Lugt 1530); LL (Lionel Lucas).
Collection of Earls Spencer (British); Spencer Sale, London, Thomas Philipe (British), June 10–17, 1811, part of no. 22; Lionel Lucas (British); Claude Lucas (British), British; Christie's, London, December 9, 1949, no. 54Lucas sale, London, December 9 1949, no. 54.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Italian Renaissance Drawings from New York Collections," November 9, 1965–January 9, 1966.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "15th and 16th Century Italian Drawings in The Metropolitan Museum of Art," February 16–April 17, 1983.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Drawings and Prints: Selections from the Permanent Collection," November 27, 1995–February 25, 1996.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Drawings and Prints: Selections from the Permanent Collection," April 22–July 14, 2002.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Drawings and Prints: Selections from the Permanent Collection," January 9–April 6, 2006.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Drawings and Prints: Selections from the Permanent Collection," January 3–March 27, 2011.
New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art. "Drawings and Prints: Selections from the Permanent Collection," August 27–November 18, 2013.
Frits Lugt Les marques de collections de dessins et d'estampes. Marques estampillés et écrites de collections particulières et publiques. Marques de marchands, de monteurs, et d'imprimeurs. Cachets de vente d'artistes décédés. Marques de graveurs apposées.... Amsterdam, 1921, cat. no. no. 1530.
Marilyn Aronberg Lavin "A Late Work by Barocci" The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, n.s. vol. 13, no. 9, New York, May, 1955, illustrated p. 271, pp. 267-68, ill.
Harald Olsen "Federico Barocci, A Critical Study in Italian Cinquecento Painting." Figura. Figura, Stockholm, 1955, cat. no. no. 53, p. 158.
Harald Olsen Federico Barocci. Copenhagen, 1962, fig. no. pl. 92a, pp. 82, 203, ill.
Jacob Bean 100 European Drawings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. New York: New York Graphic Society, 1964, cat. no. 24, fig. no. 24, ill.
Jacob Bean, Felice Stampfle Drawings from New York Collections, Vol. I: The Italian Renaissance. Exh. cat. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1965, p. 70, no. 119, ill.
Edmund P. Pillsbury and Louise S. Richards The Graphic Art of Federico Barocci. Selected Drawings and Prints. Exh. cat., The Cleveland Museum of Art and Yale University Art Gallery, New Haven. New Haven, 1978, cat. no. 64, ill.
Jacob Bean, Lawrence Turčić 15th and 16th Century Italian Drawings in the Metropolitan Museum of Art. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1982, cat. no. 22, fig. no. 22, p. 35, ill.
Irene Brückle "Blue-Colored Paper in Drawings." Drawing. vol. 15, no. 4, November-December 1993, fig. no. fig. 1, pp. 73, 76, ill.
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The Met's collection of drawings and prints—one of the most comprehensive and distinguished of its kind in the world—began with a gift of 670 works from Cornelius Vanderbilt, a Museum trustee, in 1880.
