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

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)

BibliographyJeudwine, W. R. Exhibition of Old Master Drawings. London: The Alpine Club, 1959, cat. no. 13; W. M. Brady & Co. Old Master Drawings and Oil Sketches, 1480-1900. New York: 2022, cat. no. 6ProvenanceFerruccio 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.

Vassar Exhibitions

Chronostasia: Select Acquisitions 2020–2025

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 TextKinesthetic energy flows across this sheet of anatomical studies—arms rendered as écorché drawings, exposing muscle structure, alongside horse heads, skeletal hands, and fragments drawn in red chalk and refined with ink. Giovanni Ambrogio Figino worked in late sixteenth-century Milan, where he became a leading portraitist. Like many Milanese artists, he had access to Leonardo da Vinci’s anatomical manuscripts that circulated after da Vinci’s 17-year residency in Milan. Figino’s dexterous method builds forms through careful observation, each study capturing particular aspects of structure and movement. The drawings create a visual inventory of somatic mechanics, merging scientific inquiry and artistic investigation.

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.

Terms

male

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