Two Studies of Seated Figures

Antonio Correggio

Summary

A reproduction produced by the Vasari Society of two drawings by Correggio, mounted together. The top drawing on the sheet is a figure seated on the ground. The person's forearm is leaning on a tablet that is stood on its edge. The bottom drawing is also of a figure seated on the ground, this time with tablet in lap. The person is holding onto the tablet, and their left hand is covering their mouth. Both drawings are in red chalk, and are drawn on a grid of squares. Text from the accompanying booklet produced by the Vasari Society: "4, 5. CORREGGIO (ANTONIO ALLEGRI) (b. about 1494; d. 1534) 4. SEATED FIGURE WITH LEFT ARM RESTING ON A TABLET Collection of W. Bateson, Esq., F.R.S. From the Lely and Pembroke Collections. Red chalk, brushed with sepia and touched with white. Ruled in squares in red chalk. 6.6 x 11.5 cm. (2 9/16 x 4 1/2 in.). 5. SEATED FIGURE HOLDING A TABLET Collection of W. Bateson, Esq., F.R.S. From the Lely and Pembroke Collections. Red chalk, with light sepia wash and touched with white. Ruled in squares in red chalk. 6.8 x 12.8 cm. (2 5/8 x 5 in.). It is not known for what scheme of decoration these designs (two out of a set of four) were intended; perhaps, as Mr. Sturge Moore suggests (Correggio, p. 263), for the nave of S. Giovanni Evangelista at Parma, about 1520-4. The felicity of disposition, the strong plastic sense, the essential bigness felt on even so small a scale, are characteristic of Correggio, though the figures are conceived in a graver mood than is usual with him. The sepia and white have been sacrificed to a compromise in the reproductions. L. B. [S. Arthur Strong, Reproductions of Drawings by the Old Masters at Wilton House. London: 1900; Nos. 35 and 36.]"