PAST EXHIBITION

Studies of Figures Seated and Standing Behind a Table

Drawing of unclothed male figures seated and standing behind a table

Studies of Figures Seated and Standing Behind a Table, ca. 1526–27
Red chalk
10 1/16 x 14 5/16 in. (25.6 x 36.3 cm)
Galleria degli Uffizi, Gabinetto Disegni e Stampe, Florence
Recto
Courtesy the Ministero dei beni e delle attività culturali e del turismo

A cast of garzoni (or perhaps a single assistant posing several times) modeled for this study preparing disciples in Andrea's Last Supper in the refectory in the church of San Salvi, Florence. In the painting, one figure becomes elderly, one bald, one bearded, and all are swathed in drapery. Andrea does not include their lower bodies in the painting though here he sketched their legs. Below, a second study of the middle figure attests to Andrea's meticulous attention to the expressivity of the human body: besides adding hair, he levels the slopes of the shoulders and subtly straightens the torso.

Copy Link Facebook Twitter Threads