A Rocky Outcrop
1493–1560
Medium
Pen and brown ink
Dimensions
7-1/2 x 10-1/2 in. (19.0 x 26.7 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Harry G. Sperling Fund, 1994
Accession Number
1994.267
Tags
Art Historical Context
Baccio Bandinelli (1493–1560), a prominent Florentine sculptor draughtsman of the Renaissance, created *A Rocky Outcrop* during a golden age of Italian art. Working in the shadow of masters like Michelangelo—whom he both admired and rivaled—Bandinelli was renowned for his grand sculptures, but his drawings reveal a keen eye for nature's rugged forms. This intimate sheet, executed in pen and brown ink on paper, captures the jagged textures of a mountainous landscape with precise, fluid lines, measuring just 7-1/2 x 10-1/2 inches. The medium of pen and brown ink was ideal for Renaissance draugh...
About the Artist
Baccio Bandinelli · 1493–1560
Bandinelli was the son of Michelangelo de'Brandini, a successful Florentine goldsmith. Baccio was a loyal subject of the Medici, even when they were in exile 1494-1513; consequently he was rewarded by receiving commissions after the elections to the papacy of Leo X (Giovanni de' Medici) and Clement VII (Giulio de' Medici), and after Cosimo de' Medici became Grand Duke of Tuscany in 1537. His polit...