Home Online catalogues Studi & Schizzi 48. Bernardino Barbatelli, called Poccetti Florence 1548 – 1612 Florence Four Apostles Seated at a Table Bernardino Poccetti was one of the most important painters of late sixteenth-century Florence. This preparatory study shows the figures on the right-hand side of The Last Supper, a fresco executed by Poccetti for the Florentine oratory of San Pierino. For this lunette, Poccetti has chosen a tricky space and a complex perspective. The coherence of his choice is revealed when the painting is seen in situ, from a low angle. The position of three of the characters in our drawing was transferred exactly as shown here. In the painting, the fourth apostle to the left seems less isolated: with his hands across the shoulder of the man nearest him, he peers forward in order to miss nothing of the conversation. The similarity of the physiognomy and costumes of the four figures drawn here suggests that they were all studied from the same model, posed by Poccetti and then apparently grouped together for the drawing. This theory could explain the slightly artificial arrangement of the figures around the table, the volume of which appears somewhat truncated.
Bernardino Poccetti was one of the most important painters of late sixteenth-century Florence. This preparatory study shows the figures on the right-hand side of The Last Supper, a fresco executed by Poccetti for the Florentine oratory of San Pierino. For this lunette, Poccetti has chosen a tricky space and a complex perspective. The coherence of his choice is revealed when the painting is seen in situ, from a low angle. The position of three of the characters in our drawing was transferred exactly as shown here. In the painting, the fourth apostle to the left seems less isolated: with his hands across the shoulder of the man nearest him, he peers forward in order to miss nothing of the conversation. The similarity of the physiognomy and costumes of the four figures drawn here suggests that they were all studied from the same model, posed by Poccetti and then apparently grouped together for the drawing. This theory could explain the slightly artificial arrangement of the figures around the table, the volume of which appears somewhat truncated.