Prophet with a Book

During a trip to London in the 1720s, art connoisseur, collector, and printmaker Antonio Zanetti acquired 130 Parmigianino drawings from collector Lord Arundel, prompting him to develop a chiaroscuro woodcut process similar to that used in the sixteenth century in order to reproduce the Italian artist’s works in print. “Prophet with a Book” depicts a man posed in three quarters profile, but with his face in full profile. He gestures with his right hand raised across his chest and carries a large book in his left. With this left leg raised, he appears to be about to step forward. Though considered a prophet, the beardless figure has also been described simply as a young man.