A Warrior Subduing Another (recto); Warrior Seen in Bust-Length with Fantastic Helmet (verso)
1460–64
Medium
Pen and brown ink, brush and brown wash, over black chalk or leadpoint (recto and verso)
Dimensions
sheet: 7 3/16 x 4 1/2 in. (18.3 x 11.4 cm), maximum; sheet very irregularly cut.
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Purchase, Mrs. Howard J. Barnet and Guy Wildenstein Gifts, 2002
Accession Number
2002.362a, b
Tags
Art Historical Context
Behold *A Warrior Subduing* (recto) and *Warrior Seen in Bust-Length with Fantastic Helmet* (vers), a dynamic double-sided drawing by Maso Finuerra, a pioneering Florentine artist active around 1460–64. Created during the Early Renaissance, this intimately scaled sheet (7 3/16 x 4 1/2 in.) captures muscular male nudes in combat and portrait-like vigor, evoking classical antiquity's heroic ideals amid Italy's burgeoning interest in humanism and anatomy. Finiguerra, renowned as a goldsmith and niellist, masterfully employed pen and brown ink with brush and brown wash over black chalk or leadpoi...