Study of a seated male figure (Ecce Homo?)

Juan Carreño de Miranda

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

In the later part of his career in Madrid, Carreño prepared a number of carefully modeled drawings on colored paper, including this striking example. The figure was no doubt drawn from a model in the studio, which accounts for its naturalism. The drawing is primarily a study of anatomical form. The careful rendering of the body contrasts with the lightly indicated facial features and the abbreviated strokes of the bench. It seems likely that the drawing was an autonomous study and not preparatory for a specific painting. The model’s crossed arms and lowered head, which mimic the pose often employed to reflect Christ’s humanity and humility before being crucified, suggest that Carreño might have intended the work as an ecce homo.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

The Department’s vast collection of works on paper comprises approximately 21,000 drawings, 1.2 million prints, and 12,000 illustrated books created in Europe and the Americas from about 1400 to the present day. Since its foundation in 1916, the Department has been committed to collecting a wide range of works on paper, which includes both pieces that are incredibly rare and lauded for their aesthetic appeal, as well as material that is more popular, functional, and ephemeral. The broad scope of the department’s collecting encourages questions of connoisseurship as well as those pertaining to function and context, and demonstrates the vital role that prints, drawings, and illustrated books have played throughout history.

Metropolitan Museum of Art