Inscribed with numerical computations on both sides of the sheet, in pen and brown ink.
The light strokes of the pen and the careful rendering of the arm suggest a North Italian origin for the drawing, which was probably created in the late fifteenth or early sixteenth century. Numerous artists including Dürer in Venice and Leonardo were working on the representation of human proportions, of which this drawing is an example. The faded collector’s mark of Sir Peter Lely in the lower right corner appears in a form that is sometimes spurious (L. 2094), as may be the case in the present example, which may be a fake done in black chalk.
Selected references: Fellows Report 1984, 266 (as Venetian School, ca. 1460-1500).
Ryskamp, Charles, ed. Twentieth Report to the Fellows of the Pierpont Morgan Library, 1981-1983. New York : Pierpont Morgan Library, 1984, p. 266 (as Venetian School, ca. 1460-1500).
Watermark: none.
Lely, Peter, Sir, 1618-1680, former owner.
Richardson, Jonathan, 1665-1745, former owner.
Asta, Ferruccio, 1900-1952, former owner.
Scholz, János, former owner.