Figure and Drapery studies (recto); Three Studies of a Male Torso for the 'Coronation of Marcantonio Pasqualini' (verso)

Figure and Drapery studies (recto); Three Studies of a Male Torso for the 'Coronation of Marcantonio Pasqualini' (verso)

Andrea Sacchi

An item at Metropolitan Museum of Art

In this sheet of studies of a male torso Sacchi worked out the pose of the god Apollo for his painting Marcantonio Pasqualini Crowned by Apollo (on view in the Museum's European Paintings galleries). A masterpiece of Italian Baroque art, the painting is a portrait of a celebrated singer at the papal court as well as an allegory of music. The figure of Apollo is loosely based on the famous Apollo Belvedere, an exceedingly influential ancient Roman sculpture in the Vatican collections. Here, Sacchi shows him holding a lyre (an ancient stringed instrument sacred to Apollo) in his left hand and a wreath with which he prepares to crown the triumphant singer in his upraised right hand. Both details of Apollo's pose were retained in the final painting.

Drawings and Prints

An exhibit at Metropolitan Museum of Art

Figure and Drapery studies (recto); Three Studies of a Male Torso for the 'Coronation of Marcantonio Pasqualini' (verso)Figure and Drapery studies (recto); Three Studies of a Male Torso for the 'Coronation of Marcantonio Pasqualini' (verso)Figure and Drapery studies (recto); Three Studies of a Male Torso for the 'Coronation of Marcantonio Pasqualini' (verso)Figure and Drapery studies (recto); Three Studies of a Male Torso for the 'Coronation of Marcantonio Pasqualini' (verso)Figure and Drapery studies (recto); Three Studies of a Male Torso for the 'Coronation of Marcantonio Pasqualini' (verso)

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.