The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of July 4, 2022

Rear View of Seated Man

late 1600s?

Carlo Vimercati

(Italian, 1660-1715)

Italy, 17th century

Red chalk heightened with white chalk

Support: Beige(1) laid paper prepared with a light brown wash

Sheet: 27.8 x 17.8 cm (10 15/16 x 7 in.)

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Leopold Blumka 1963.72

Location

not on view

Fun Fact

Red chalk was a common medium used by artists of the 1600s to make drawings from live models.

Description

By the late 1600s, painters of religious subjects, such as Carlo Vimercati, sought to make the content of their church decorations more accessible to a general congregation through the use of dramatic gestures and observed naturalistic details. Such artists often relied on figure studies like this drawing of a posed studio assistant to capture the dress and physique of everyday people and thus imbue their paintings with realistic elements.

Inscriptions

Inscription

VERSO, upper right, in graphite: CARRACCI / Soc. G - 631 / OA ; upper center, in graphite: Pontormo

Provenance
Ludwig Pollak, Rome (Lugt 788b, lower right, in black ink). [Salocchi & Freschi, Florence]
Exhibition history

CMA, Concept, Dogma, and Feeling: Italian Drawings 1550-1650 (Aug. 27-Oct. 20, 1991).

CMA, Italian Drawings from the Permanent Collection (Dec. 15, 1986-Mar. 1, 1987).

CMA, Old Master Drawings (Mar. 10-30, 1964).

CMA, "Year in Review for 1963" (Nov. 26, 1963-Jan. 5, 1964), cma Bulletin 50 (1963), p. 293 no. 115 (as having acc. no. 63.73).

Year in Review (1963). The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (November 26, 1963-January 5, 1964).

Old Master Drawings. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 10-30, 1964).

Italian Drawings from the Permanent Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 15, 1986-March 1, 1987).

Concept, Dogma and Feeling: Italian Drawings 1550-1650. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (August 27-October 20, 1991).

Stories From Storage. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 7-May 16, 2021).

Source URL: https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1963.72