Standing Male Nude (Saint Jerome?) with Book 1550s

Luca Cambiaso made this pen and brown ink drawing of a standing male nude, possibly Saint Jerome, in Italy during the 16th century. The image offers a window into the cultural and institutional context of Renaissance art. Cambiaso's focus on the male nude, a figure idealized and celebrated through the artistic and intellectual traditions of the classical world, signals the pervasive influence of classical humanism on Renaissance art. The tentative identification of the figure as Saint Jerome suggests a fusion of classical and Christian ideals, typical of Renaissance thought. Jerome was an important figure in the Catholic Church, responsible for the translation of the bible from Greek and Hebrew to Latin. Such drawings were part of the increasingly institutionalized system of artistic training, where the study of the nude body was considered essential for mastering the human form. To fully understand Cambiaso's work, we can consult period treatises on art, workshop inventories, and the writings of contemporary humanists. This will help us to develop a deeper understanding of the social and institutional forces that shaped Cambiaso’s artistic practice.