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The Dead Christ Supported by Three Figures

1537–91
Not on view
Naldini appears to have had a flair for bringing figures together in beautifully choreographed compositions, many of which he designed to embellish churches in Florence and Rome. His strong, yet mellifluous drawings reflect the influences of Michelangelo, Pontormo, and Andrea del Sarto. Naldini trained in Pontormo's workshop from 1549 to 1556. The effects of this formative experience are evident in his manner of drawing with bold scribbly contours as well as with a neatly volumetric conception of form and closely intertwined figural groups. The composition of this drawing strongly recalls that of Michelangelo's marble sculpture "Pietà with Saints" (1550–55) in the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo, Florence. The attribution to the artist was made by Philip Pouncey in 1958, when the drawing was in the collection of Walter C. Baker, who had acquired it as the work of Palma Giovane. Another study by Naldini for the composition, with the bearing figures indicated as winged angels, is in a private collection in Paris (formerly C. R. Rudolf collection, London; repr. Il primato del disegno, exhibition catalogue, Palazzo Strozzi, Florence, 1980, p. 152, no. 328).

Artwork Details

Object Information
  • Title: The Dead Christ Supported by Three Figures
  • Artist: Giovanni Battista Naldini (Italian, Florence 1535–1591 Florence)
  • Date: 1537–91
  • Medium: Pen and brown ink, brush and brown wash, highlighted with white, over black chalk, on brown-washed paper
  • Dimensions: 12 3/4 x 9 1/8in. (32.4 x 23.1cm)
  • Classification: Drawings
  • Credit Line: Bequest of Walter C. Baker, 1971
  • Object Number: 1972.118.261
  • Curatorial Department: Drawings and Prints

More Artwork

More Artwork
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Kneeling Male Figure with Outstretched Arms (recto); Semi-Nude Seated Male Figure seen from Behind (verso), Giovanni Battista Naldini Italian, Red chalk (recto and verso)
Kneeling Male Figure with Outstretched Arms (recto); Semi-Nude Seated Male Figure seen from Behind (verso)
Giovanni Battista Naldini
1537–91
Elevation of Giulio Romano's House (recto); the Ruins from the Caelius Aqueduct and Temple of Claudius in Rome (verso), Giovanni Battista Naldini Italian, Pen and brown ink, over leadpoint
Elevation of Giulio Romano's House (recto); the Ruins from the Caelius Aqueduct and Temple of Claudius in Rome (verso)
Giovanni Battista Naldini
ca. 1557
Design for the End Pier of a Table, Giovanni Battista Naldini Italian, Pen and brown ink, brush and brown wash, over black chalk
Design for the End Pier of a Table
Giovanni Battista Naldini
1537–91
Samson Slaying the Philistine, after Michelangelo (recto); Figure of Fury, after Rosso Fiorentino (verso), Giovanni Battista Naldini Italian, Red chalk (recto); black chalk (verso)
Samson Slaying the Philistine, after Michelangelo (recto); Figure of Fury, after Rosso Fiorentino (verso)
Multiple artists/makers
1537–91
Lucretia, Raphael (Raffaello Sanzio or Santi) Italian, Pen and brown ink over black chalk, partially incised with a stylus (recto); rubbed with black chalk for transfer (verso)
Lucretia
Raphael (Raffaello Sanzio or Santi)
1508–10

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