Three Studies of Seated Nude Male with Raised Arm, Seen from Below.

Art Historical Context

This striking sheet of studies, created by an anonymous Bolognese artist in the seventeenth century, captures three dynamic views of a seated male nude seen from below. Executed in red chalk on light brown paper and partly reworked with red crayon, the drawing exemplifies the academic practice of the period, when artists meticulously recorded the human figure from multiple angles to master anatomy, foreshortening, and the play of light across form. Such preparatory sketches were essential tools for painters working on larger compositions, from altarpieces to fresco cycles. The Bolognese schoo...