Two male figure studies and St Peter

Pisano (known as Pisanello) is among the most important artists of the first half of the fifteenth century in Italy. His work marks the transition from the Late Gothic of the courts to the Early Renaissance. This sheet probably belonged to the so-called ‘Taccuino di viaggio’, a collection of sketches for future reference, which was compiled in the first half of the fifteenth century. It contains two male figure studies and a drapery study for a saint. The exposed bodies clearly seem to have been drawn before a live model, perhaps one of the workshop assistants. These are surely two of the earliest life studies ever created. Thus, the work prefigures one of the most important themes of the Renaissance and of the Humanist culture of the epoch: the study and depiction of the human body. The juxtaposition of the nudes and the figure of the saint does not indicate a connection in terms of content; instead, it is the result of the artist’s formal interest in the representation of the human form.