Study of A Male Figure Bending Forward

As his early biographer Carlo Ridolfi noted, Tintoretto loved to ‘draw from the live model in all sorts of poses, endowing them with grace’, inspired by sculpture, particularly that of Michelangelo. This is one such study, executed in charcoal on coarsely-fibred paper. The model could not have held this contorted position for long, and supports himself with a stick. He was probably also kneeling on a stool, but Tintoretto chose not to represent this prosaic prop in his dynamic drawing.