Three Figures Disputing

Fra Bartolommeo's drawings were almost always related to painted projects. This small sketch of a trio of figures caught in discussion or dispute may have been intended for use in a crowd scene.

After taking vows in 1500, Fra Bartolommeo had renounced painting. He returned to painting in 1504, at the wish of the newly appointed prior, Sante Pagnini. His studio in the Dominican convent of San Marco in Florence was geared towards producing collaborative works in which studio assistants did much of the painting, freeing the artist to work on their design.