PONTORMO, Jacopo
(b. 1494, Pontormo, d. 1557, Firenze)

Seated Nude with Raised Arm

-
Red chalk on paper, 204 x 265 mm
Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence

Pontormo attempted seemingly endless variations on the constricted universal of the male body in action, without decorative embellishment. This lead him to produce some highly wrought, extravagant figures of the type so prevalent in his later frescoes, as each gesture and pose was repeatedly and rationally investigated during the creative process.