Unknown Maker, Italian

This red-chalk drawing of a nude male model seated on a stone block is a typical academie, or figure study, executed by an early pupil in the life-drawing classes at the Academy of St. Luke in Rome. Founded in 1593, it is one of the oldest art schools still in operation, and many aspects of its curriculum, including study of human anatomy from living examples, remain at the core of arts education to this day. The model’s body type and pose reflect the primary artistic concerns among Italian painters and sculptors four hundred years ago. The extreme twist of the torso displays both arms and maximizes the tension in the muscles of his back,

shoulders, abdomen, and thighs. Depictions of vigorous action and dynamic bodily poses such as this were the basic building blocks of large, multi-figure Baroque religious and mythological scenes.