Head of a Bearded Man Looking to Lower Left (Nicodemus)

Head of a Bearded Man Looking to Lower Left (Nicodemus)

Federico Barocci

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

This full-scale colored oil sketch on paper was preparatory for the head of Nicodemus, one of the bearers of the body of the dead Christ in Federico Barocci's 'Entombment', painted for the Confraternita della Croce in Senigallia, near Urbino. The altarpiece was begun by Barocci in 1579 and finished in 1582: during the process of preparation of the canvas, the artist produced a sizeable number of drawings (around fifty sheets: for this group see Emiliani 2008; Mann and Bohn 2012), including a second study for the head of Nicodemus which is now in the National Gallery of Art, Washington D.C. (Woodner Collection inv. 1991.182.16). As is typical of Barocci's working practice, the oil sketches probably followed the preparation of the cartoon (no longer extant) in the design process. (C.C.B.)

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Head of a Bearded Man Looking to Lower Left (Nicodemus)Head of a Bearded Man Looking to Lower Left (Nicodemus)Head of a Bearded Man Looking to Lower Left (Nicodemus)Head of a Bearded Man Looking to Lower Left (Nicodemus)Head of a Bearded Man Looking to Lower Left (Nicodemus)

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.