IL TROMETTA (Pesaro, 1540 - Rome, 1611) Niccolò Martinelli d - Lot 77

IL TROMETTA (Pesaro, 1540 - Rome, 1611) Niccolò Martinelli da Pesaro, known as Study for a male figure Black stone and white chalk highlights on blue paper on front Study of an antique torso with foot and sketch of a basilica plan Black stone, red chalk on reverse circa 1560/1564 Height 39 cm Width : 22 cm Provenance: Italy, private collection. This large unpublished sheet, probably preparatory to a religious scene such as the Marriage of the Virgin*, with its heavy, skilfully arranged drapery effects, must date from the artist's youth, when he worked alongside Taddeo Zuccaro in Rome between 1560 and 1564. The study of an antique torso in red chalk and the sketch of a plan for a basilica on the reverse, as well as the black stone and white chalk technique on the front, tend to confirm this dating. To date, only around fifty drawings make up his catalogued oeuvre. *Louvre, inv. 9055 Prado, inv. D 001793