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Giovanni Battista Piazzetta

Reclining Male Nude

Maker

School of Giovanni Battista Piazzetta (Italian, ca. 1682-1754)

Title

Reclining Male Nude

Year

mid 1700s

Medium

  • Black and white chalk on blue laid paper

Materials/Techniques

Techniques

  • Black and white chalk on blue laid paper

Materials

chalk, white heightening

Supports

  • Blue paper

Dimensions

45.4 x 60.3 cm (17 7/8 x 23 3/4 inches)

Signature / Inscription / Marks

Watermark: Three crescents

Credit / Object Number

Credit

Jesse Metcalf Fund

Object Number

63.050

Type

  • Drawings and Watercolors

Publications

  • Books

Venice in the Eighteenth Century: Prints and Drawings

Exhibition History

Changing Poses
The Artist's Model
Nov 12, 2010 – Jun 06, 2011

Label copy

This large study of a muscular nude male model reveals all of the talents that qualified Giovanni Battista Piazzetta to lead Venice’s first official drawing academy, the School of the Nude (Scuola del Nudo), when it opened in 1750. It shows a clear command of anatomy without exaggeration or contortion by the model, whose casually tousled hair reinforces the overall relaxation of his pose. Piazzetta had privately trained pupils in his studio for decades, and this figure is a type often found in both his work and in the drawings of his students. Such a figure could easily be presented as a shepherd in an Arcadian landscape, a popular subject in Venice in this period. Piazzetta often used family members as models, particularly his wife, Rosa, and son, Giacomo.

Venetian Drawings and Prints of the 18th Century
Jan 12, 1967 – Feb 05, 1967

Image use

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Public Domain This object is in the Public Domain and available under a CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) Public Domain Dedication

Tombstone

School of Giovanni Battista Piazzetta (Italian, ca. 1682-1754)
Reclining Male Nude, mid 1700s
Black and white chalk on blue laid paper
45.4 x 60.3 cm (17 7/8 x 23 3/4 inches)
Jesse Metcalf Fund 63.050

To request new photography, please send an email to imagerequest@risd.edu and include your name and the object's accession number.

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