Design for a Spandrel: A Roman Martyr and Two Putti–Saint Jude the Apostle
1573/75
Livio Agresti Italian, 1508–1579
Italy
Louise Bross identified the figure as Saint Jude the Apostle and the sheet as possibly an early idea for the placement of soldier-martyrs in the spandrels of the Chapel of the Trinity at Santo Spirito in Sassia. The dramatic contrasts of the brown ink, blue paper, and white highlights further animate the figure’s illusionistic pose.
Pen and brown ink, with brush and brown wash, heightened with lead white gouache, on blue laid paper