Half-Figure of a Youth with His Right Arm Raised 1612 - 1648

This red chalk drawing, created by Simone Cantarini between 1612 and 1648, depicts a half-figure of a youthful male subject, his right arm raised and his torso exposed. The artist’s masterful use of line and shading reveals the figure’s musculature, exhibiting the artist’s mastery of the human form. This is a quintessential example of Italian Baroque drawing, a study in anatomy and the classical tradition. This drawing is currently housed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.