This full-scale colored oil sketch on paper was preparatory for the head of Nicodemus, one of the bearers of the body of the dead Christ in Federico Barocci's 'Entombment', painted for the Confraternita della Croce in Senigallia, near Urbino. The altarpiece was begun by Barocci in 1579 and finished in 1582: during the process of preparation of the canvas, the artist produced a sizeable number of drawings (around fifty sheets: for this group see Emiliani 2008; Mann and Bohn 2012), including a second study for the head of Nicodemus which is now in the National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C. (Woodner Collection inv. 1991.182.16). As is typical of Barocci's working practice, the oil sketches probably followed the preparation of the cartoon (no longer extant) in the design process. (C.C.B.)
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Artwork Details
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Title:Head of a Bearded Man Looking to Lower Left (Nicodemus)
Artist:Federico Barocci (Italian, Urbino ca. 1535–1612 Urbino)
Date:1579–82
Medium:Brush and oil paint on paper
Dimensions:15 1/4 x 10 3/4in. (38.7 x 27.3cm)
Classification:Drawings
Credit Line:Harry G. Sperling Fund, 1976
Object Number:1976.87.1
Mr. Gorton (British)-- of Norwich in the late 1920's; Thomas Agnew & Sons, Ltd.
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.
Saint Louis Art Museum. "Federico Barocci: Renaissance Master of Color and Line (St. Louis) / Federico Barocci: Brilliance and Grace (London)," October 21, 2012–January 20, 2013.
Madrid. Museo Nacional del Prado. "Rubens: Painter of Sketches," April 9–August 5, 2018.
Urbino. Galleria Nazionale delle Marche. "Federico Barocci Urbino: L’emozione della pittura moderna," June 20–October 6, 2024.
Andrea Emiliani, Giovanna Bertalà Mostra di Federico Barocci. Exh. cat., Museo Civico, Bologna (September 14 -November 16, 1975). Bologna, 1975, (as England, Private Collection), cat. no. no. 115, fig. no. no. 115, ill.
"Departmental Accessions: Drawings." in Annual Report of the Trustees of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, July 1, 1975 - June 30, 1976. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, no. 106, New York, 1976, p. 35.
Edmund P. Pillsbury "Barocci at Bologna and Florence." Master Drawings. vol. 14, no. 1, Master Drawings, New York, 1976, pp. 56, 64.
John Shearman "Barocci at Bologna and Florence." in Burlington Magazine. vol. 118, London, January 1976, fig. no. fig. 1, pp. 51-52, 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. 43, fig. no. 43, ill.
Edmund P. Pillsbury "The Oil Studies of Frederico Barocci." Apollo Magazine. vol. 108, New York, Sept. 1978, fig. no. pl. 2, pp. 170-71, ill.
Graham Smith "Frederico Barocci." Burlington Magazine, vol. 120, 1978. vol. 120, Burlington Magazine, London, 1978, fig. no. fig. 105, pp. 330-33, ill.
Jacob Bean Notable Acquisitions (Metropolitan Museum of Art), 1975-1979: Drawings. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1979, p. 56, ill.
A Dealer's Record, Agnew's 1967-81. Thomas Agnew & Sons, Ltd., Agnew's, London, 1981, fig. no. p. 163, p. 163, 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. 20, fig. no. 20, p. 32, ill.
Andrea Emiliani Federico Barocci. 1985, cat. no. no. 314, fig. no. Fig. 314, p. 444, ill.
William M. Griswold, Linda Wolk-Simon Sixteenth Century Italian Drawings in New York Collections. Exh. cat., The Metropolitan Museum of Art (January 11 - March 27, 1994). The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 1994, pp. 86-88, no. 77, ill.
Keith Christiansen "Going for Baroque: Bringing 17th-Century Masters to the Met." The Metropolitan Museum of Art Bulletin. vol. 62, no. 3, 2005, p. 25, fig. 22, ill.
Judith W. Mann, Babette Bohn, Carol Plazzotta Federico Barocci: Renaissance Master of Color and Line Exh. cat. Saint Louis Art Museum and London, National Gallery. New Haven and Saint Louis, 2012, cat. no. 8.9, p. 171, ill.
Luigi Gallo, Anna Maria Ambrosini Massari Federico Barocci Urbino: L'emozione della pittura moderna. Milan, 2024, p. 201, IV.4.
Federico Barocci (Italian, Urbino ca. 1535–1612 Urbino)
1581
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