25. Baldassare Franceschini, called Volterrano

Without the double inscription in pen and ink, it would have been difficult to attribute this drawing, as this type of study of body parts, in particular the legs, was produced by so many Italian artists of the period. With a firmly drawn outline, worked over several times, Volterrano gives a clear account of the position of this left leg. The rotation of the knee is unusual but, in association with the raised heel and the bent leg – repeated in the copy sketched on the right – it probably added vigour and dynamism to the figure for which it was destined. On the verso of this sheet is another study of a right leg, evidently observed from the same model.