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Nov 20, 2012

Three Male Nudes

c. 1540–47

Domenico Beccafumi

(Italian, 1486–1551)

Italy, 16th century

Black chalk or charcoal with brush and black chalk or charcoal wash, heightened with white gouache; incised

Support: Light brown laid paper (discolored), laid down on a secondary support (not visible), laid on a tertiary support of laid paper

Sheet: 23.2 x 41.7 cm (9 1/8 x 16 7/16 in.); Secondary Support: 23.2 x 41.9 cm (9 1/8 x 16 1/2 in.); Tertiary Support: 24.8 x 42.7 cm (9 3/4 x 16 13/16 in.)

Delia E. Holden Fund 1958.313

Location

not on view

Description

Domenico Beccafumi was intensely aware of the work of his contemporary Michelangelo when he developed his own style for projects in Siena, south of Florence. This drawing is a study for a chiaroscuro print, a type of woodblock print using several blocks, some colored, to create light and shadow. The drawing features three male nudes whose roles are unknown. The closest figure, reclining with his back toward the viewer, recalls ancient sculptures of river gods as well as works by Michelangelo, including the reclining figures he sculpted for the Medici tombs in Florence.

Artist biography

Domenico Beccafumi

Domenico di Giacomo Pace (also known as Mecarino, 1484/86-1551) was a Sienese Mannerist painter, sculptor, draughtsman, printmaker, and illuminator. At an early age, he took the name Beccafumi from his protector Lorenzo. Beccafumi was perhaps the most original artistic personality of the sixteenth-century Siena. There, he spent the most part of his career, with brief sojourns in Rome (1510-12), Genoa (ca. 1533), and Pisa (1536-38). In Siena, he obtained the most prestigious public commissions, such as the fresco decoration in Palazzo Pubblico, and the design of inlaid marble pavements and the creation of bronze sculptures in the Siena Cathedral. Beccafumi's drawings and prints are both stylistically characterized by vibrant compositions and dramatic effects of light.

Inscriptions

Inscription

tertiary support, along bottom, in brown ink: Becco Fumi, il Mecarino da Siena. 1404-1549 Domenico Beccafumi; lower right, in brown ink: from vol 1.st P. [1?]2.

Provenance

The Earl of Pembroke and Montgomery; [his sale, Sotheby's, London, 10 July 1917, lot 511 (lot included Madonna Ascending to Heaven by Simone Cantarini; sold to Moore according to Cleveland 1979)]; Archibald George Blomefield Russel (Lugt 2770a, lower center, in black ink); [his sale, Sotheby's, London, 9 June 1955, lot 1 (repr.)]; A. Scharf, London (according to Cleveland 1979).

Citations

Takahatake, Naoko, et al. The Chiaroscuro Woodcut in Renaissance Italy. Los Angeles : Los Angeles County Museum of Art ; Munich ; New York : DelMonico Books/Prestel, 2018. Reproduced and mentioned: p. 168-171, cat. 65

Exhibition history

Decorative Arts of the Italian Renaissance. The Detroit Institute of Arts, Detroit, MI (organizer) (November 18, 1958-January 4, 1959).

Drawings. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 11-September 10, 1963).

Old Master Drawings. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 10-31, 1964).

Drawings: France, Italy, Netherlands. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 1-March 24, 1965).

Italian Prints and Drawings. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 30-February 25, 1968).

Visions & Revisions. Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, Providence, RI (October 18-November 24, 1968).

The Draftsman's Eye: Late Italian Renaissance Schools and Styles. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 6-April 22, 1979).

Connoisseurship in Italian Figural Compositions. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 21, 1980-February 15, 1981).

Italian Drawings from the Permanent Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 16, 1986-March 1, 1987).

Domenico Beccafumi e il suo tempo. Pinacoteca Nazionale di Siena, Siena, Italy (organizer) (June 16-September 16, 1990).

Mannerism: Italian, French, and Netherlandish Prints, 1520-1620. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 3-October 26, 1997).

Master Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 27-October 17, 2000); The Morgan Library & Museum, New York, NY (May 23-August 19, 2001); Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Houston, TX (October 14, 2001-January 6, 2002).

The Chiaroscuro Woodcut in Renaissance Italy. Los Angeles County Museum of Art (organizer) (June 3-September 16, 2018); National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC (October 14, 2018-January 20, 2019).

Master/Apprentice: Imitation and Inspiration in the Renaissance. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 13, 2019-February 23, 2020).

Cite this page

{{cite web|title=Three Male Nudes|url=https://clevelandart.org/art/1958.313|author=Domenico Beccafumi|year=c. 1540–47|access-date=30 March 2023|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

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Three Male Nudes

Three Male Nudes

Domenico Beccafumi

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Domenico Beccafumi

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