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Study for the Head of St. Michael
From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art. Free to download, adapt and use — no permission needed.
About this work
Pietro da Cortona drew this angelically beautiful face in a style reminiscent of the work of Renaissance master Raphael (1483–1520). Cortona's use of black chalk to develop extremely subtle effects of shading shows the technique at its most refined. He drew this sheet in preparation for a ceiling decoration, Saint Michael and Angels with the Instruments of the Passion , painted in fresco in the church of Santa Maria in Vallicella (better known as the Chiesa Nuova, or "New Church") in Rome, completed in 1633.
Cleveland Museum of Art’s own descriptionCredit lineStudy for the Head of St. Michael, 1633. Pietro da Cortona (Italian, 1596–1669). Black chalk; sheet: 19 x 16.8 cm (7 1/2 x 6 5/8 in.); secondary support: 31.9 x 27.6 cm (12 9/16 x 10 7/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Leonard C. Hanna Jr. Fund, 1996.257
