Design for a Spandrel: A Roman Martyr and Two Putti–Saint Jude the Apostle
Livio Agresti
1573–1575
- Medium
- Pen and brown ink, with brush and brown wash, heightened with lead white gouache, on blue laid paper
- Dimensions
- Sight: 23.8 × 27 cm (9 3/8 × 10 11/16 in.)
- Genre
- pen and ink drawings
- Museum
- Art Institute of Chicago
Tags
brush and washdrawings (visual works)pen and ink drawingsgouacheprints and drawingpaperbrush and inkpaper (fiber product)
About
Louise Bross identified the figure as Saint Jude the Apostle and the sheet as possibly an early idea for the placement of soldier-martyrs in the spandrels of the Chapel of the Trinity at Santo Spirito in Sassia. The dramatic contrasts of the brown ink, blue paper, and white highlights further animate the figure’s illusionistic pose.
