Studies of a Stag

Stefano da Verona (Stefano di Giovanni d'Arbosio di Francia)

1430s · Pen and brown ink · Drawings and Prints

These sensitive renderings of a stag can be attributed to Stefano da Verona, a leading painter and draftsman in Lombardy and the Veneto. Another pen-and-ink drawing by his hand appears in this exhibition. In Stefano’s time, artists in northern Italy were known for their precise depictions of nature; the model books they produced featured highly finished animal studies with exacting attention to outward detail. Stefano’s nimble sketches of a stag stand in contrast to this tradition. With free and rapid strokes of the pen, he experiments with the immediate impression of the creature, imbuing it with a sense of vitality. The spontaneous handling, rhythmic hatching, and looped lines are among the characteristics these works share with the other sheet by Stefano in this selection.

Artist

Stefano da Verona (Stefano di Giovanni d'Arbosio di Francia)

Date

1430s

Medium

Pen and brown ink

Department

Drawings and Prints

Credit line

Harry G. Sperling Fund, 2005