Design for a Pendentive: Youthful Musicians with Wind Instruments and a Drum
1505–88
Medium
Pen and brown ink, brush and brown wash, highlighted with white, over red chalk, on blue paper
Dimensions
2-3/8 x 2-3/8 in. (6.0 x 6.0 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Harry G. Sperling Fund, 1977
Accession Number
1977.249b
Tags
Art Historical Context
Pomponio Amalteo (1505–1588), an Italian Renaissance artist active in the Friuli region crafted this charming preparatory drawing, *Design for a Pendentive: Youthful Musicians Wind Instruments and a Drum*. Measuring a diminutive 2-3/8 x 2-3/8 inches (6.0 x 6.0 cm), it a lively ensemble of children immersed in music—blowing wind instruments and beating a drum. The intimate scale and playful energy suggest a whimsical decorative scheme for a pendentive, the curved triangular vault sections that elegantly transition domes to square bases in Renaissance architecture, often filled with vibrant figu...