Study for Saint Peter

about 1533

Medium

Black and white chalk, on previously blue paper

Dimensions

30.5 × 16.8 cm

Status

In Museum Collection

Collect24 Art ID

C24-212891

This drawing is a preparatory study for the figure of Saint Peter in The Madonna and Child in Glory, with Saints Peter, Bernard, Zeno and Paul in the Church of Santa Maria in Organo, Verona, dated 1533 and probably commissioned by the Della Torre Family, whose coat-of-arms appears at the lower right corner of the canvas. Sensitively drawn in back chalk, the study focuses primarily on Saint Peter's gestures and the resulting disposition of his robe and yellow cloak, examining the strong fall of light from the left, which lends them a sculptural quality. Saint Peter looks up towards the Virgin with his left arm holding a book and his right hand extended; in the painting he holds keys. Savoldo left the physiognomy of the face undescribed as he most likely drew a detailed head study for this figure (the Getty has such a head study for the figure of Saint Paul in the same altarpiece). The study is rooted in close observation, with carefully applied black and white chalk used to model the rich folds of the drapery, and robust black chalk hatching around the figures highlighting them on the sheet and producing dramatic effects of chiaroscuro. The deeply naturalistic drawing was likely…