Flowering Bush above an Eroded Bank
c. 1572–1604
Medium
black chalk, brush and brown wash, and lead white (partially oxidized), with traces of red chalk
Dimensions
sheet: 20 × 13.2 cm · secondary support: 30.4 × 22.9 cm
Classification
Drawing
Department
Drawings
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund
Accession Number
1973.171
Rights
Public Domain
Tags
About this artwork
Federico Barocci, who worked in Urbino, made landscape sketches for use in his paintings and as independent studies. The artist’s multimedia approach—combining chalks, ink washes, and opaque paints—was novel at the time but would become standard practice for landscape artists working in later centuries. Novel, as well, was his interest in excerpts of the natural world rather than fully realized scenes. Here, the artist drew an eroded bank with a few bold lines in black chalk, then used a brush t...