Studies of a Man's Head and of His Hands

Studies of a Man's Head and of His Hands

Federico Barocci

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

These large studies of heads and hands, broadly modeled in colored chalks, were preparatory for the figure of an apostle seated at the table near Christ in Barocci’s monumental canvas The Last Supper. The painting was an important commission by Guidobaldo II Della Rovere, Duke of Urbino and Pesaro, and was executed by Barocci between 1592 and 1599 for the Chapel of the Holy Sacrament in the Urbino Cathedral, where it still hangs. Here, the use of black, white, and peach chalks on blue paper and the sculptural quality of the forms are typical of the artist, who was among the most prolific draftsmen of all time. The Last Supper was one of Barocci’s last paintings, for which he produced more than fifty drawings, a fact that attests to the meticulous care of his creative process.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Studies of a Man's Head and of His HandsStudies of a Man's Head and of His HandsStudies of a Man's Head and of His HandsStudies of a Man's Head and of His HandsStudies of a Man's Head and of His Hands

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.