Bust-length Portrait of Torquato Tasso
Medium
Black and red chalk
Dimensions
Sheet: 9 7/16 × 7 1/16 in. (24 × 18 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
The Elisha Whittelsey Collection, The Elisha Whittelsey Fund, 2014
Accession Number
2014.783
Tags
Art Historical Context
This delicate bust-length portrait in black and red chalk captures the introspective gaze of Torqu Tasso, one of Renaissance Italy's greatest poets, best known for his epic *Jerusalem Delivered* (1). Dated around 1594—just a year before Tasso's—the drawing measures a modest 9⅞ × 7⅛ inches and hails from the Metropolitan Museum of Art's and Prints collection. Its attribution sparks intrigue: it may be by Italian Mannerist master Federico Zuccaro (1542/43–1609), renowned for his elegant portraits of intellectuals, or an anonymous French artist of the 17th century, reflecting how such works circu...