Bowdoin College Museum of Art | - Man in Classical Costume

Preview image of work. chalk on paper, Man in Classical Costume 3209

1935.885

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Man in Classical Costume

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Artists

Artist Unidentified (Italian) [formerly attributed to Pasquale Romanelli];

Title

Man in Classical Costume

Creation Date

n.d.

Century

late 16th century

Dimensions

7 in. x 10 1/16 in. (17.8 cm. x 25.5 cm.)

Object Type

drawing

Creation Place

Europe, Italy

Medium and Support

chalk on paper

Credit Line

Bequest of Charles Potter Kling

Copyright

Public Domain

Accession Number

1935.885

This striding figure twists his upper body strongly away from the viewer while still displaying his navel, an impossible feat for a living human body. Mannerist artists often strained the human form into decorative shapes defying nature’s limits. Michelangelo recommended to his students that they use the figura serpentinata, an S-shaped form that twists and moves like a serpent, in order to capture not only living movement but also intense grace. Wearing fashionable ankle-high sandals on his tiny feet, a garment that billows out behind in bulging flaps and a fillet around his small head, this figure was probably prepared for some ancient story of plunder or flight, since he appears to carry a sack flung over his shoulder.