Bearded Male Term with a Raised Left Arm 1540 - 1550

Here is an anonymous drawing of a Bearded Male Term, made with pen and brown ink, heightened with white, over black chalk, on light brown paper. The drawing is dominated by the figure's verticality, rising from the pedestal base to the flourish of foliage atop his head. The term is bisected, with the upper portion depicting a bearded male figure and the lower as a simple rectangular pillar. The artist uses light and shadow to model the figure's musculature and drapery, lending a sculptural quality to the drawing. The stark contrast between the organic, flowing lines of the figure and the rigid geometry of the pillar creates a visual tension. The work plays with the relationship between the human form and architectural structure. The bearded figure, seemingly burdened by the weight of the pillar, raises questions about the structural foundations of identity and the burdens we carry. The drawing, in its very composition, invites us to question the boundaries between the natural and the constructed, the animate and the inanimate.