A Young Man Embracing a Girl
c. 1743
Medium
charcoal on blue paper (now faded) heightened with white chalk
Dimensions
overall: 39.5 x 31.6 cm (15 9/16 x 12 7/16 in.)
Classification
Drawing
Department
CG-E
Museum
National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.
Credit
Gift of Katherine and Alexandra Baer in Memory of their father, Dr. George Baer
Accession Number
2010.101.1
About the Artist
Giovanni Battista Piazzetta · 1682–1754
Giovanni Battista Piazzetta was born in Venice in 1682 and trained first under his father, the sculptor and woodcarver Giacomo Piazzetta, before turning decisively to painting. The crucial formative experience of his career came when he traveled to Bologna to study under Giuseppe Maria Crespi, whose dramatic use of chiaroscuro — strong contrasts of light and shadow rooted in the Caravaggesque trad...