Home Online catalogues Studi & Schizzi 22. Annibale Carracci Bologna 1560 – 1609 Rome Study of the Torso of a Man, Seated towards Right This drawing is a fine example of the nude studies executed from life by Annibale Carracci which demonstrate his interest in the human form. Working as closely as possible to his model, Carracci deals with stark reality, observing the man’s anatomy with great attention and rendering it faithfully. He focuses here on the modelling of the powerful musculature of the torso, outlined against a background vigorously shaded in red chalk. This sheet is typical of the “return to nature” advocated by the Bolognese artist. Constant reference to reality, enabled by the practice of life drawing from the model, allowed him to free himself from the preconceived ideas and complacent formulae inherited from figurative traditions.
This drawing is a fine example of the nude studies executed from life by Annibale Carracci which demonstrate his interest in the human form. Working as closely as possible to his model, Carracci deals with stark reality, observing the man’s anatomy with great attention and rendering it faithfully. He focuses here on the modelling of the powerful musculature of the torso, outlined against a background vigorously shaded in red chalk. This sheet is typical of the “return to nature” advocated by the Bolognese artist. Constant reference to reality, enabled by the practice of life drawing from the model, allowed him to free himself from the preconceived ideas and complacent formulae inherited from figurative traditions.