Object number2022.4.r

Studies of Right and Left Arm Musculature, of a Right Knee, Male Genitals, Hand Bones, and Heads of Horses

Datec. 1575

Artist Ambrogio Giovanni Figino (Italian, 1548 - 1608)

CultureItalian

MediumRed chalk, pen and brown ink on paper

DimensionsSheet: 17 x 11 1/8 in. (43.2 x 28.3 cm)

Credit LinePurchase, Frances Lehman Loeb Art Center Fund

On View

Not on view

Period16th c

Classification(s)

Drawings and Watercolors

Terms

male

MarkingsOn recto, stamped in black ink lower right corner within a square: AF; watermark at center: a gloved hand with ruff at cuff pointing to six-petaled flower (Briquet 10700; Turin, 1574)

ProvenanceFerruccio Asta (1900-1952) Venice and Milan (Lugt 116a);
acquired by W.R. Jeudwine, London, 1959;
Dr. Robert Landolt (1913-2008), Chur; by descent;
W. M. Brady & Co.
Exhibition HistoryExhibition of Old Master Drawings, The Alpine Club, London, 1959;

Old Master Drawings and Oil Sketches, 1480-1900, W. M. Brady & Co., New York, NY, 2022

Label TextThis sheet contains over ninety densely arranged anatomical studies by leading late 16th century artist Giovanni Ambrogio Figino. He began the studies in red chalk and then added clarifying outlines in pen and ink. Figino was a highly sought-after artist in Milan, where he was best known as a portraitist. His scientific interest in human anatomy owed to the influence of Leonardo da Vinci, who had spent seventeen years in Milan before leaving for Florence in 1499. Figino owned about thirty scientific studies as well as manuscripts by Leonardo.

DescriptionA series of dense sketches of musculature and bone structure, mostly of the right arm, but also a few horse heads in the upper left, legs near the middle and right, and male genitals in the lower left quadrant.

Object information is a work in progress and may be updated as new research findings emerge. To help improve this record, please email loebcollections@vassar.edu