A Putto Seated on a Frame
ca. 1538–40
Medium
Pen and brown ink, brush and brown wash, highlighted with white gouache, over traces of leadpoint or black chalk
Dimensions
sheet: 4 3/4 x 2 9/16 in. (12 x 6.5 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Philippe and Edith de Montebello, 2008
Accession Number
2008.334.2
Tags
Art Historical Context
Girolamo Mazzola Bedoli, a Mannerist artist active in sixteenth-century Parma, created this delicate drawing around 1538–40. Closely associated with his celebrated relative Parmigianino, Bedoli worked in the refined, graceful style that defined Emilian Mannerism. The small sheet depicts a charming putto perched atop an ornate frame, a motif frequently used to enliven the borders of altarpieces, frescoes, and decorative schemes. Executed in pen and brown ink with brush and wash, accented by white gouache highlights, the drawing demonstrates the artist’s mastery of light and volume on a modest ...