Half-length Sketch of Bearded Man (Jupiter?)
Battista Franco
1540/60
Medium
Pen and brown ink on cream laid paper, tipped onto blue laid paper
Dimensions
14.9 × 14.1 cm (5 7/8 × 5 9/16 in.)
Classification
pen and ink drawings
Department
Prints and Drawings
Museum
Art Institute of Chicago
Accession Number
82362
About the Artist
Battista Franco · 1510–1561
Battista Franco, known as il Semolei, was born in Venice around 1510, though his career unfolded largely in Rome and at the courts of central and northern Italy. He came to Rome in his twenties and immediately fell under two powerful spells: the inexhaustible riches of classical antiquity and the overwhelming presence of Michelangelo. Franco spent years making drawings after ancient sculptures and...