-
1 of 253523 objects
A male nude, turned to the right c. 1605-8
Black chalk on buff paper | 24.4 x 21.8 cm (sheet of paper) | RCIN 900655

Domenichino (Bologna 1581-Naples 1641)
A male nude, turned to the right c. 1605-8

Domenichino (Bologna 1581-Naples 1641)
A male nude, turned to the right c. 1605-8


-
A drawing of a male nude, three-quarter length: turned to the right; with both hands extended in front of him. This is a study for the figure of Pan who kneels to the left of Marsyas in The Flaying of Marsyas a fresco formerly in the Villa Aldobrandini at Frascati, now in the National Gallery, London.
There are six studies for this fresco, in the Royal Collection: RCIN 900655, 900663, 900666, 901169, 901513, 901224.
Commissioned at the insistence of Monsignor Agucchi by Cardinal Pietro Aldobrandini for the Villa Aldobrandini at Frascati, the ten Scenes from the Legend of Apollo are attributed by the biographer Giovan Pietro Bellori to the period immediately prior to that at which Domenichino began work on the Grottaferrata frescoes, and were thus in all probability completed in or before 1608. It is recorded that Domenichino was assisted in the execution of the frescoes by Alessandro Fortuna and by Viola, who is traditionally supposed to have helped in the painting of the landscape backgrounds in the scenes.
Eight of the ten frescoes were removed to the Lanckoronski Palace in Vienna, and are now in the National Gallery, London. Two of the frescoes, Apollo slaying the Serpent Python, and The Head and Lyre of Orpheus thrown into the River Ebro, remain in the Villa Aldobrandini.Provenance
Bequeathed to Francesco Raspantino; Carlo Maratti, after 1664; from whom purchased by Clement XI, 1703; by whom bequeathed to his nephew, Alessandro Albani, 1721; from whom purchased by George III, 1762
-
Medium and techniques
Black chalk on buff paper
Measurements
24.4 x 21.8 cm (sheet of paper)
Other number(s)
RL 655Alternative title(s)
The Flaying of Marsyas