21. Jacopo dal Ponte, called Jacopo Bassano or Carlo Caliari

Bassano circa 1510/15 – 1592 Bassano | Venice 1570 – 1596 Venice

Study of the Back of a Nude Man

This drawing belongs to a group of studies of nude figures and portraits executed aux trois crayons on blue paper. The identification of the artist is still the subject of debate: art historians have not managed to choose between Jacopo Bassano and one of his pupils, Carlo Caliari, son of the famous painter Paolo Veronese. With a certain economy of means, the artist succeeds in conveying the curved pos­ture of this robust back, in spite of some approximations. The highlights of red and white chalk invigorate the main outline in black chalk.