Red Pencil Or Red Chalk Drawing On Agarbanzado Paper. Italian School. 17th Century.

Dimensions: 20 cm x 24 cm
This red-pencil drawing depicts several figures;on the right, a naked young man, kneeling, with his back slightly turned, his left armoutstretched to signal the possible presence of a scorpion in the treeat the center of the composition. He is holding a coat in his right hand.
On the left side of the drawing are two male figures, a youngman and a middle-aged man, richly dressed in 17th-century fashion. Oneof them, the older man, has his hand resting on the other’s shoulder. In the background is awooded landscape, and in the upper right corner, a city with its towersand ramparts is visible. The scene is therefore set outside the city.
Although it has not been possible to link this drawing to aknown work, numerous drawings, from a technical standpoint, are similarto this study and can be dated to the 17th century.
Given the work’s provenance—namely, Parma—wecan associate this study with the Parma school, which, as early as the 17th century,drew inspiration from the effects of light and color in Correggio’s drawings, oftenexecuted in red pencil.
The red pencil allows for more precise definition, whereshapes take on depth thanks to “tratteggio”: parallel orintersecting lines that, when drawn closer or farther apart, reproduce the highlights andshadows. Italian drawing is organized around regional schools, such as theParma School.