This study of a cloaked peasant sitting cross-legged is remarkably informal for a drawing dating from the beginning of the sixteenth century. The precise and carefully executed lines are not wholly typical of Romanino?s draughtsmanship, but a small sketch on the other side confirms the attribution to him. The seated figure is related to the central figure in a small painting by Romanino of Apollo and Marsyas of around 1513. The spontaneity and evident speed at which Romanino used his pen to hatch in the shadows of the cloak reveal that the drawing was done from life.
Girolamo Romanino (Italian, 1484/7 - about 1560)
A native of Brescia, where he may have studied, Romanino certainly received artistic training in Venice and Milan. His Venetian experience instilled in him an interest in the colouristic paintings of Titian and Giorgione, but also brought him into contact with the expressive work of the German artist Albrecht Durer. His studies in Milan exposed him to Bramante?s work and the rules of perspective. Romanino?s paintings display an eclectic mix of these influences, and he was considered rather eccentric by his contemporaries. He was, however, a highly original and talented artist, often making conscious changes to his style. A keen traveller, he spent much of his career exploring the artistic centres of northern Italy, creating altarpieces and frescoes, and absorbing a wide range of influences.
