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by James Spero (Editor)
From earliest days, artists have sought to record the beauty, form, movement, and infinite variety of the human body. Among the most successful were the great masters of the various European traditions and schools of art. The extraordinary skill, inspiration, and technique they brought to figure drawing resulted in many masterpieces.
This anthology, carefully reproduced from rare portfolios, presents over forty of those works, by artists ranging from the 15th century Italian Filippino Lippi to the 19th century French classicist, J. A. D. Ingres. Included are such highlights as a Michelangelo study for a dead Christ; two drawings of seated women by Rembrandt; a study by Rubens for Daniel in the Lions' Den, and splendid nudes by Tintoretto, Titian, Andrea del Sarto, Raphael, Pontormo, and other celebrated artists. The drawings included in this volume reveal differences in attitudes toward the nude figure and in artistic technique. Some masters, such as Tintoretto, use an agitated, almost calligraphic line, while others, such as Michelangelo, create the illusion of a smooth, undulating surface. The drawings are lessons in foreshortening, and in how to handle various media -- ink, chalk, pencil, and charcoal. These and many more artistic insights, embodied in drawings of striking beauty, are yours to study and enjoy in this collection, available nowhere else at this price.
