Studies of Groups of Figures

Author: Surya Stemerding

This is a typical workshop drawing in which an artist made studies of figures and groups that he later wanted to incorporate in a composition.^[1] The limited number of such sketchy pen-and-ink sheets by Taddeo Zuccaro provide a rare insight into the way he filled parts of a scene.^[2]

The sheet depicts three groups of figures who were probably intended to be walk-on characters for installation in a multi-figured composition. The groups at upper left and right look like witnesses to an event; the typical kind of figures that were employed to fill up the wings of a composition and at the same time lead the viewer’s eye to the scene in the centre. The group at lower centre consists of four figures who are on an elevation or set of low steps. They could be a group to be included in its entirety in the scene, or as two pairs on either side of it. There is no known painting or print by Taddeo in which these figures appear, but it is not inconceivable that they were meant to be a preliminary study for a fresco, for example The Last Supper in the Cappella Mattei in Santa Maria della Consolazione in Rome (1553-1556).^[3]

The studies are laid down sketchily with pen and brown ink and the figures are unrecognizable. Nevertheless, the artist has taken account of the fall of light in the proposed composition and the shadows, which are roughly indicated with washes. The light appears to come from the left of all the figures, so one suspects that the groups were intended for the same composition.

On the back of the sheet there are sketches in red chalk and in pen and brown ink. The figure seen from behind appears to be an initial idea for the central figure on the stairs in the fresco in Santa Maria della Consolazione mentioned above. There is a more detailed study of this figure in Washington.^[4] The figure upper left in the Rotterdam drawing is probably an initial sketch for the figure on the right in that fresco who is pouring water from a jug. This confirms the connection between the Rotterdam sheet of studies and the fresco in Santa Maria della Consolazione.