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Adam

Adam

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Giuseppe Cesari, called Cavaliere d'Arpino

This drawing is a figure study created by the artist in preparation for a monumental ceiling painting executed in fresco. The nude male figure is shown seated on the ground with his upper body turned sharply to his left, looking up with arms out-stretched toward a tree and with a fruit in his left hand. The landscape setting and the action depict-ed are indications that the figure may be identified as Adam. The drawing relates to the Old Testament scenes painted by Cesari in 1602–1603 in the long gallery of the Villa Aldobrandini at Frascati, out-side of Rome. Cavaliere d’Arpino belonged to the generation of mannerist artists who were still active in baroque Rome at the end of the sixteenth and the beginning of the seventeenth centuries. The complex, twisted pose of the figure and the graceful elongation of his limbs characterize the style called mannerism. Giuseppe Cesari belonged to the generation of later mannerist artists who were still active in baroque Rome at the end of the sixteenth and the beginning of the seventeenth centuries. The complex, twisted pose of the figure and the graceful elongation of his limbs characterize this style. Cesari is known for his highly finished figure studies and his predilection for the use of red chalk.
Artist
Giuseppe Cesari, called Cavaliere d'Arpino
(Italian, 1568 - 1640)
Title
Adam
Date
ca. 1620
Medium
Red chalk
Dimensions
9 13/16 x 7 5/16 in. Overall
Credit
Elvehjem Museum of Art General, Harry and Margaret P. Glicksman, Walter J. and Cecille Hunt, Cyril W. Nave, and Richard E. Stockwell Endowment Funds purchase
Accession No.
2004.3
Classification
Drawings & Watercolors
Geography
Italy

Related

ca. 1860s, Vallardi collection (Milan, Italy). 1969, sold by unknown private collector at Sotheby''s sale (London, England). March 16-April 3 1971, sold at Sotheby''s sale "Old master Drawings and Paintings presented by Yvonne Tan Bunzl" lot 20 (London, England). 2004, sold by unknown private collector at Sotheby''s New York sale (New York, NY) sells to Elvehjem Museum of Art [now called the Chazen Museum of Art] (Madison, WI)

  • Chazen Museum of Art. "Bulletin 2003-2007." Madison: Chazen Museum of Art, 2010. p. 59
  • Elvehjem Museum of Art. "Artscene." Vol. 21, No. 2, July- December 2004. p. 9
  • Chazen Museum of Art. "Artscene." Vol. 22, No. 3, August-December 2005. p. 3
  • Sotheby's, New York, "Old Master Drawings." lot 10
  • Tan Bunzl, Yvonne. "Old Master Drawings and Painting Presented by Yvonne Tan Bunzl." (March 16-April 3, 1971). No. 20

  • Mannerism in Italy and the Low Countries: Chazen Museum of Art, 2/14/2009–5/3/2009
  • Old Master Drawings from the Permanent Collection: Chazen Museum of Art, 7/23/2005–10/9/2005
  • Old Master Drawings and Painting Presented by Yvonne Tan Bunzl: Yvonne Tan Bunzl , 3/16/1971–4/3/1971

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