Man Standing Beside a Plinth on which He Rests a Book, and a Smaller Study of Saint Luke. Verso: Torso of a Nude Male and Other Studies

The smaller study at right is identifiable as Saint Luke by the presence of the saint’s attribute, the ox, on which he leans. It is likely that the larger figure, too, is an alternate study for the same figure since the pose is so similar, although his only attribute seems to be a book.

In 1967, Roseline Bacou suggested that the studies might be connected with Parmigianino’s decoration of the church of Santa Maria della Steccata, Parma, presumably the four figures at the bases of the sottarchi.¹ A. E. Popham rightly pointed out that there is no evidence that Parmigianino ever intended these to be other than Old Testament figures. Nevertheless, the Morgan study is extremely close in style to drawings for this commission, and if not related to it, must at least date to the same period. Achim Gnann drew attention to the sotto in sù viewpoint of the Morgan studies, which, he argues, lends credibility to Bacou’s suggestion.²

An adaptation of the Morgan drawing, in pen and brown ink and brown wash, of Saint Luke Holding a Book Leaning Against a Plinth, was sold in 1973 at Christie’s as by Parmigianino, presumably due to an old inscription on the drawing.³

Footnotes:

1. Paris, 1967, 80-81, no. 93.
2. Gnann 2007, 1: 492, no. 881.
3. Christie’s, London, 26 November 1973, lot 5.