Crouching Male Nude

In this lively work, Francesco Lorenzi achieved a forceful plasticity in this figure study, despite remarkably few contour lines. Instead, he created the illusion of volume by modeling the figure's musculature, sensitively applying the chalk to render a range of grays, black shadows, and white highlights on the surface of the body. This effect is further enhanced by the figure's dynamic, three-dimensional pose. Lorenzi's skill led to this sheet being long ascribed to the preeminent master of this type of tonal drawing, Giovanni Battista Piazzetta (1682-1754).