Antonio Viviani, called Il Sordo
Urbino 1560 – 1620
Study for a Funerary Monument
Inscribed Polidoro with the pencil lower right.
Pen and brown ink, brown wash.
206 x 192 mm – 8 1/8 x 7 1/2 in.
It is not an easy task to attribute this drawing as it is typical of late Italian Mannerism and recalls many of its representatives. However, it is possible to make a convincing stylistic comparison with other drawings in wash by Antonio Viviani, a pupil of Federico Barocci and a native of Urbino. We can compare it in particular to a sheet representing a Saint in Prayer (art market) and a drawing representing various saints (Louvre, inv. 2045). Fluid use of wash that the artist alternates with small areas in hatching, the importance given to the reserve of the paper, small sullen physiognomies and the manner of drawing hands and nose are all very similar in the three drawings.
Condition report – Light fold on the upper right corner. An horizontal fold on the lower part (visible on the photograph). Verso : two pieces of paper on upper right and left edge.
