Seated Male Nude

This drawing of a male nude reveals the central properties of Baroque art of which Pietro da Cortona was a leading exponent, for its dramatic power, emotional pathos and sheer exuberance. The subject and intended location for this particular figure remain to be determined, but it appears to be for a secular context. The character perhaps represents Jupiter, or possibly Vulcan at his Forge. It is not difficult to imagine that it is a resolved study for a fresco in a private palace in either Rome or Florence, the two cities where the artist was mainly active.