The next drawing on my old master copy marathon is a graphite pencil drawing of a foot. If it does not look like a foot then I have failed unless I wanted to confuse you then I succeeded. If I was trying to confuse you about what the drawing was but you could tell it was a foot then I have failed. My drawing is a copy of a work done in chalk by the 17th century Italian Master Domenico Zampieri or as he was known, Domenichino. Domenichino means little Domenico because, according to my well researched research he was a small guy. Yet he was a giant when it comes to 17th century painting. From the 17th through the 19th centuries, he was considered one of the greatest painters of all time, second only to Raphael. Domenichino studied art in Bologna under Annibale Carracci and became Carracci’s favorite student and assistant.
Domenico Zampieri, I feel strange calling him Domenichino, maybe he didn’t like that nickname. Moving on, Domenico was an excellent draftsman who carefully studied nature as well as ancient sculpture and then idealized his forms making them nearly flawless. He also created idealized landscapes that later influenced the great landscape painters such as Claude Lorrain and Nicolas Poussin. Domenichino was also a talented musician and architect. He was also incredibly well read. He believed art is a type of poetry. Some of his greatest work is at The Church of St. Louis of the French which is a Roman Catholic church in Rome, and also the The Last Communion of Saint Jerome altarpiece which can be found in the Vatican. Later in his life he was bullied by younger and perhaps jealous artists and he is believed to have committed suicide because of it.
My next offering is a copy of drawing done by the Flemish master Peter Paul Rubens sometime between 1617-18. The Victoria and Albert Museum where the drawing is displayed describes his work as a study of a nude man that is in a recumbent position and then trying to raise himself up and that seems to confirm what we see. But wait there’s more. There are also two studies of legs, that are in a kneeling position. The original drawing was done in black chalk with touches of white. I drew my copy with various graphite pencils. Actually just two different pencils, I just don’t remember which ones they were. One was light and the other dark. There are drawing pencil sets with several different types of pencils but I personally find it difficult to keep track of when to use each one so I usually only use two. I hope you had as much fun reading about pencils as I have writing about them. Just in case you can have too much of a good thing, let’s move on.
The original drawing was a study for the painting “Miracles of St. Francis Xavier”, which is a large altarpiece that is on display at the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. The subject in the drawing is not St. Francis but some ‘regular joe’ that is raising from his grave or perhaps he is being healed from the bubonic plague. Maybe he died of the plague and then St. Francis Xavier brought him back from the dead or he was still alive and want to sit up to see what all the commotion was about. Different websites have different ideas about what is actually going on with that pale fellow. But one thing we do now it that he is a man who is in the presence of St. Francis Xavier and that is something in and of itself.
Pictured above is a copy of a study of legs by Jacopo Pontormo. I drew mine in graphite pencil on Strathmore paper while the original by Pontormo was done in red chalk. I had mentioned earlier that I do not care for the scratchiness of chalk and I believed I talked about Jacopo Pontormo. Just in case you didn’t know about Pontormo, he was born in 1494 in Empoli, Italy. He was taught by numerous great painters including Leonardo da Vinci and became an important artist in the Sixteenth century. He help develop the expressive style of Mannerism. His work also became a big influence on the later Baroque style, influencing artists like his own student, Bronzino. Pontormo was also greatly admired by other artists at the time. Michelangelo Buonarroti happen to see a painting that Pontormo had done he said “This young man [age 19] will be such an artist, based on what can be seen, that if he lives and continues on, he will exalt this art to the heavens.” High praise indeed. This quote was taken from the “Lives of the Artists” written by Giorgio Vasari. He goes on to write about Jacopo Pontormo’s character. He states that Pontormo was a quite unique person. He was so afraid of death that he didn’t even want to hear it discussed. Varasi also states that he would run away from having any contact with dead bodies but is that really that unique or different. Perhaps in 16th century Italy people loved to hang around dead bodies. Apparently Pontormo would also avoid crowds and kept to himself. He also put so much thought into his work that some days he would just stand and think without painting anything. However he was able to create anything he put his mind to.
The next old master copy is of a black chalk drawing by Michelangelo Buonarroti. However, there is some doubts about whether it was actually drawn by Michelangelo himself. The drawing is a study for the central part of a fresco of the ‘Battle of Cascina’. Unfortunately, the work was never realized which I guess means it was never started or perhaps it was started and never finished. In the book I copied the drawing, it says it was done in black chalk. The British museum, where it is on display, states that it was done in pen and brown ink, brown and gray wash, and then heightened with white over leadpoint and stylus. It also states that the white is somewhat discolored. So either the book titled “Anatomy Lessons From the Great Masters: 100 Great Figure Drawings” is being overly simplistic or the British museum is being very British. It is really hard to say. Wait a second, I think I found out what the confusion is about. The drawing at the British Museum says the it was an experiment with different mediums that didn’t work out very well. It goes on to say that Michelangelo created other studies of the same subject in black chalk. I know what your thinking. I am writing about the wrong drawing. And you would be correct in your thinking. But in all fairness it does look very similar to the one I copied. Nonetheless, I made my copy with a pencil or to be more exact, a few different types of pencils. Moving on. The fresco was to celebrate the ‘Battle of Cascina’ and was to be displayed on a wall in the Great Council’s Florentine Room of the Palazzo Vecchio. Leonardo da Vinci was suppose to paint another work on the other side of the room to celebrate the ‘Battle of Anghiari’ which was another victory for the Florentine army. Leonardo’s painting was done with an experimental method that failed and was unable to be salvaged. Speaking of salvaged, I am unable to salvage this poorly written blog post.
Next up we have another male nude figure seen from the back. It is a drawing done in graphite pencils on 9″ x 12″ Strathmore paper. The original by Taddeo Zuccaro is about 17 in. x 11 in. and was done in red chalk and highlighted with white gouache (which is somewhat similar to watercolor).
Taddeo Zuccaro was born around the year 1540 in Sant’Angelo in Vado. He moved to Rome to study painting at the age of 14 and at 17 started studying under the master Correggio. He was an excellent draftsman and eventually became famous from his frescoes of historical themes.
This just isn’t your day.
The subject of the original, created in 1550, is a male nude drawn by life but is also somewhat based on the style of the ‘Horse Tamers’ which is a group of Roman sculptures on the Quirinal Hill. The original drawing is done in a naturalistic style but also distorted somewhat in the style of Michelangelo. Not only did Taddeo Zuccaro admire Michelangelo but Michelangelo in turn admired the young Taddeo Zuccaro for his skills as a draftsman. The nude figure study is similar to one he drew in which a soldier is holding the reins of a horse in the foreground of the composition. Both works were done as preparatory work for a fresco that decorated a Roman Palace. According to the description by the Metropolitan Museum in New York, the fresco is now lost. I don’t know how you lose a fresco or a palace. I should do some more research, although it might be more interesting to you and less work for me if I didn’t do anymore research on the frescoes and created some mystery. However, I did find out that the original drawing by Taddeo Zuccaro is in the collection of the Metropolitan but unfortunately is not on view. So you aren’t able to see it. And the other drawing that is similar to that one is in a private collection. So you can’t see that one either. I’m not sure what I did with the copy of it I drew so you can’t see that at the moment either. This just isn’t your day.
Next up on the old master copy marathon, we have another work after the Italian Renaissance master Luca Signorelli, who created his drawing in red chalk and colored wash. The medium colored wash is rather vague. I can’t just go to Blick Art Supply store and ask for colored wash. It could be embarrassing. Anyway I did mine in pencil. I think like a number 2 pencil and maybe a darker one. That is rather vague as well. I have talked somewhat about Signorelli in my last post so I think I’ll write about the Museé Bonnat which houses the original drawing. According to the internet the museum is temporarily closed. Is it because of the Covid pandemic? or remodeling? or perhaps something more sinister is going on? Let’s investigate.
It could be embarrassing.
The Musée Bonnat art museum was opened in 1901 in Bayonne, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France. It is named after the hometown painter, Léon Bonnat. Bonnat donated his collection of paintings as well as a large number of drawings to the City of Bayonne. This doesn’t explain why the museum is closed. So I consulted a 2019 entry from Wikipedia and DBpedia. The DBpedia might just copy information from Wikipedia or perhaps the other was around. Anywho, the Museé Bonnat closed it’s doors in April of 2011 for an extension renovation. The project will double the size of the art museum. It says the work will begin in early 2018 and then will open towards the end of 2019. So that explains why the museum is closed now. Wait, it does not explain that. It also doesn’t explain why the museum would close in 2011 if the renovation wasn’t going to even start until 2018. So I thought I would visit the actual Museé Bonnat website which is where I should have probably started by investigation. Apparently the museum will remain closed to the public until 2024. So if you are the public and would like to see the drawing by Signorelli you will have to wait a few more years but since you have already waited 10 years I guess is won’t seem like that much longer. If you want to see my copy, you can stop by anytime, I’ll put out some chips and salsa.
This next post is a graphite drawing of Hercules and Antaeus copied from a work in black chalk by Luca Signorelli. Signorelli who’s full name is Luca d’Egidio di Ventura de’ Signorelli, was referred to as Luca da Cortona because he was from, you guessed it, Cortona, Italy. According to my research, Signorelli was born sometime between 1445 and 1450. So apparently the record keeping was not very good in Cortona or women spent incredibly long periods in labor. Signorelli died in Cortona on October 16, 1523, so apparently record keeping greatly improved during his lifetime or perhaps deaths were considered more important than births. I’m not trying to judge anyone’s culture. I’m just trying to keep an open mind. I mean they know the exact date of his death but… I’m going to have to move on from this. Luca Signorelli was known for his frescoes, most notably the series based on the end of the world in the Orvieto Cathedral. These frescoes were even praised by Michelangelo, whom he greatly admired. Signorelli worked in an intense and dramatic style. Raphael admired and was influenced by his work.
I’m just trying to keep an open mind.
Now let’s talk about Hercules and Antaeus of the ever popular Greek mythology. I have said this before but it bears repeating. I often start to doze off when I read or write or even think about any type of mythology so I’ll try to keep this brief. The giant Antaeus was the son of Gaea, the goddess of earth and Poseidon, the god of the sea. Antaeus was considered invincible due to the fact that his strength was renewed when his feet touched the ground. He would often challenge strangers to fight him. Kind of like those guys that still live at home and take martial arts classes all day then go out at night and pick fights with people. You know the type. Getting back to Mythology. One day Antaeus got into a fight with Heracles, who figured out that Antaeus got his strength from touching the earth. So Hercules lifted Antaeus from the Earth then crushed him to death. Wild stuff indeed.
Next up on our Old Master copy marathon we have a graphite drawing after the talented draughtsman Pierre Paul Prud’hon. His drawing was done in black and white chalk. I never cared for the ‘scratchiness’ of chalk so I opted for pencils of varying darkness. The original work is 22 inches x 15 inches and mine is 12 inches x 9 inches. In fact all the old master copies I did were on 12×9 inch paper. Just in case you’re taking notes. Oh course I really only take up about 8×10 inches of the paper. Speaking of measurements, when I was growing up, teachers taught us the metric system and told us we will eventually transfer to it. Of course, they never set a date when that might occur so I guess technically they were not wrong. Enough of the tech talk, let’s talk about Pierre Paul Prud’hon. Prud’hon was born on April 4, 1758 in Cluny, France. Which is about a 4 hour drive south from Paris. If you were walking it would take about 75 hours. So if your in Paris and want to visit Cluny, I recommend taking a car. I would make a great travel writer. I’ve never even been to Cluny, but I write about like a true native. Anyway, Pierre-Paul Prud’hon was a painter and draftsman who worked between the Neoclassical style which borrowed heavily from Ancient societies, and the Romanticism which embraced a more expressive, personal style. Prud’hon trained in Dijon, France then moved to Rome and became influenced by the work of Neoclassical artists such as the sculpture Antonio Canova and Jacques-Louis David. He made a living by painting portraits and drawing for engravers. When Napoleon Bonaparte discovered his talent, he was employed received some commissions as a decorator and portrait painter for the court. However, Prud’hon gained reputation from his allegorical paintings. Today he is admired more for his exquisite drawings.
And now for the Spanish translation courtesy of Google Translate:
A continuación, en nuestro maratón de copias de Old Master, tenemos un dibujo en grafito del talentoso dibujante Pierre Paul Prud’hon. Su dibujo fue realizado con tiza en blanco y negro. Nunca me preocupé por el “raspado” de la tiza, así que opté por lápices de diferente oscuridad. El trabajo original es de 22 pulgadas x 15 pulgadas y el mío es de 12 pulgadas x 9 pulgadas. De hecho, todas las copias maestras antiguas que hice fueron en papel de 12×9 pulgadas. Por si acaso estás tomando notas. Oh, por supuesto que en realidad solo ocupo unas 8 x 10 pulgadas del papel. Hablando de medidas, cuando yo era pequeño, los profesores nos enseñaron el sistema métrico y nos dijeron que eventualmente nos transferiremos a él. Por supuesto, nunca fijaron una fecha en la que eso podría ocurrir, así que supongo que técnicamente no se equivocaron. Basta de charlas sobre tecnología, hablemos de Pierre Paul Prud’hon. Prud’hon nació el 4 de abril de 1758 en Cluny, Francia. Que está a unas 4 horas en coche al sur de París. Si estuvieras caminando, tardarías unas 75 horas. Así que si estás en París y quieres visitar Cluny, te recomiendo que cojas un coche. Sería un gran escritor de viajes. Ni siquiera he estado en Cluny, pero escribo como un verdadero nativo. De todos modos, Pierre-Paul Prud’hon fue un pintor y dibujante que trabajó entre el estilo neoclásico, que tomó prestado en gran medida de las sociedades antiguas, y el romanticismo, que adoptó un estilo más expresivo y personal. Prud’hon se formó en Dijon, Francia, luego se mudó a Roma y recibió la influencia del trabajo de artistas neoclásicos como la escultura Antonio Canova y Jacques-Louis David. Se ganaba la vida pintando retratos y dibujando para grabadores. Cuando Napoleón Bonaparte descubrió su talento, lo contrataron recibió algunos encargos como decorador y retratista de la corte. Sin embargo, Prud’hon ganó reputación por sus pinturas alegóricas. Hoy es más admirado por sus exquisitos dibujos.
The next offering in my old master copies is a, that’s right a copy of an etching by Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn. Who goes simply by Rembrandt. Perhaps he could go by the name of Harmenszoon. But let’s be serious. Would he really go by the name of Harmenszoon? My copy of his etching was done with gel ink pens. Which sounds fancy, but really isn’t. I think I got the pen at Walgreens Pharmacy. Are they good for drawing you ask? No not really. Perhaps they are better than a lot pens. As you can tell this post is going nowhere. This is probably due to the fact that it is Monday morning and I am at work. It’s a graphic design job I just started a couple of weeks ago. I know I shouldn’t be blogging while I’m at work but there is nothing to do at the moment. Well nothing I can think of. I lose track of what I’m suppose to do when I get to work. I will look in my notebook at my earliest convenience. I’m also blogging now because I work full time and don’t have a lot of time to make art. I don’t get home till about 6pm and my wife wants be to listen to her more. Although, she has a tendency to talk for hours. She talks in a monologue / stream of consciousness style that is exhausting to listen to. I only have so much energy. But she says if I want “you know what” I need to deal with it. I don’t think I have the patience anymore to deal with her. In fact we haven’t “you know what” in years. It is not easy. I should move out but I like seeing my son everyday and having space to create stuff. I also hate the idea of moving and living in a little apartment. Perhaps I’m also afraid I’ll become more depressed. Anyway, did I mention it’s Monday morning.
And now for the Google translation in Spanish:
La siguiente oferta en mis antiguas copias maestras es una, eso es, una copia de un grabado de Rembrandt Harmenszoon van Rijn. Quien pasa simplemente por Rembrandt. Quizás podría llamarse Harmenszoon. Pero seamos serios. ¿Realmente se llamaría Harmenszoon? Mi copia de su grabado se hizo con bolígrafos de tinta de gel. Lo que suena elegante, pero en realidad no lo es. Creo que conseguí el bolígrafo en la farmacia Walgreens. ¿Son buenos para dibujar, preguntas? No en realidad no. Quizás sean mejores que muchos bolígrafos. Como puede ver, esta publicación no va a ninguna parte. Probablemente esto se deba al hecho de que es lunes por la mañana y estoy en el trabajo. Es un trabajo de diseño gráfico que comencé hace un par de semanas. Sé que no debería escribir en un blog mientras estoy en el trabajo, pero no hay nada que hacer en este momento. Bueno, no se me ocurre nada. Pierdo la noción de lo que se supone que debo hacer cuando llego al trabajo. Buscaré en mi cuaderno lo antes posible. También estoy blogueando ahora porque trabajo a tiempo completo y no tengo mucho tiempo para hacer arte. No llego a casa hasta las 6 de la tarde y mi esposa quiere escucharla más. Aunque tiene tendencia a hablar durante horas. Habla en un estilo de monólogo / flujo de conciencia que es agotador de escuchar. Solo tengo tanta energía. Pero ella dice que si quiero “ya sabes qué” tengo que lidiar con eso. Creo que ya no tengo la paciencia para lidiar con ella. De hecho, no hemos “sabes qué” en años. No es facil. Debería mudarme, pero me gusta ver a mi hijo todos los días y tener espacio para crear cosas. También detesto la idea de mudarme y vivir en un pequeño apartamento. Quizás también tengo miedo de estar más deprimido. De todos modos, ¿mencioné que es lunes por la mañana?
