Studienblatt; Zehn Figuren und ein Löwe
ca 1600-1610
Think of this sheet as Francesco Vanni’s creative brainstorming session from around 1600. Instead of a single polished scene, we see a chaotic mix of characters: a skeletal, emaciated woman sitting on the left (likely an allegory for famine), dramatic angels pointing and flying, and various kneeling figures. The scratchy, energetic pen lines show the artist thinking in real-time, testing out poses for a larger Baroque composition. The mysterious numbers scrawled at the top are likely old inventory marks, proving this piece of paper has been shuffled through collections for centuries.
- Technique
- Pen and ink drawing
- Material
- Paper