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German School
16th century
Three Nude Blacksmiths at an Anvil
Pen and brown ink with opaque white and black ink on laid paper.
6 3/16 x 4 1/16 inches (156 x 103 mm)
The Joseph F. McCrindle Collection.
2009.360
Provenance:
Joseph F. McCrindle, New York (McCrindle collection no. A0475).
Summary:
In this anonymous German drawing, three men potently swing hammers in a studio for metalwork, while their companion selects a club in the background. The men are in the midst of crafting a helmet and its counterpart, a piece of armor to protect the chest, lies in the sheet's foreground. Since the laborers are nude, it is probable that this sketch is an allegory of one of the elements. Giorgio Vasari and Cristofano Gherardi frescoed a not dissimilar configuration of men working at a forge in the sala degli elementi in Palazzo Vecchio between 1555 and 1557.
Associated names:
McCrindle, Joseph F., former owner.
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