This is the preparatory study for the allegorical figure of Prudence in the apse of the Madonna dell'Orto, Venice. The oil paint that Tintoretto used to trace the final contours of the nude on the front of this drawing bled through the paper and became visible on the back of the sheet. The artist then traced these contours again on the verso, enabling him to preview the figure in reverse. This became a common practice in the artist's workshop, and many drawings have figures traced on the back of the sheet--sometimes in oil paint, as here, and other times in chalk, presumably traced by holding the paper up to the light. In the painting related to this sketch, the original figure was used; in other examples, the reversed figure became the preferred solution. -- Exhibition Label, from "Drawing in Tintoretto's Venice"
Inscribed on verso, at lower right, in pen and black ink, "*[i.e. star symbol] cart.[ella?] 17".
Watermark: Possible anchor in circle.
Scholz, János, former owner.
John Marciari, Drawing in Tintoretto's Venice, New York, 2018, no. 23, figs. 47 and 49, repr.
Scholz, Janos. Italian Master Drawings, 1350-1800, from the János Scholz Collection. New York : Dover, 1976, no. 60, repr.
Venetian Drawings from the Collection of János Scholz. Montgomery, Ala. : Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, 1976, no. 21, repr. (includes previous bibliography and exhibitions).
Scholz, Notre Dame, 1981, no. 147, repr.
Ryskamp, Charles, ed. Twentieth Report to the Fellows of the Pierpont Morgan Library, 1981-1983. New York : Pierpont Morgan Library, 1984, p. 295.