Orazio Fidani 1610-1656 (attributed To) Study Of A Man Draped In Profile

Orazio Fidani (attributed to)
1610 - Florence - 1656

STUDY OF A DRAPED FIGURE

Black chalk with white heightening on olive-tinted paper
Signed lower left
40.5 x 25.5 cm

This graceful study depicts a male figure shown in three-quarter view, his body in contrapposto beneath billowing drapery. The head, slightly tilted downward, and the expressive gestures of the hands create a sense of movement enhanced by the dramatic fall of fabric. The careful attention to the play of light and shadow on the drapery folds demonstrates particular sensitivity to sculptural form.

The drawing bears a nineteenth-century collector's inscription in brown ink attributing it to Gregorio Pagani (1558-1605). However, the style and handling suggest instead the hand of Orazio Fidani (1610-1656), a significant figure in mid-seventeenth century Florentine painting. A pupil of Giovanni Bilivert, Fidani was particularly celebrated for his religious works in Florence and its surrounding territory. His documented drawings, primarily preserved in the Biblioteca Marucelliana, Florence, share this same refined treatment of figure and drapery, characteristic of his mature style of the 1640s.