Half-length Sketch of Bearded Man (Jupiter?) 1540 - 1560

Editor: So, this is "Half-length Sketch of Bearded Man (Jupiter?)" created between 1540 and 1560 by Battista Franco. It's done with pen and ink on paper. The hatching gives the figure a tangible muscularity. What do you see when you look at it? Curator: The labor embedded in this drawing is what strikes me. Consider the physicality of mark-making. Each stroke is deliberate, requiring skilled hand-eye coordination. The value isn't just representational, but an index of the artist's time and effort. Editor: That's a great point. I was focusing on the classical references perhaps. The title suggests Jupiter. Curator: But shouldn't we question that title? To consider the materiality is to think about *how* the work gets made. Is "Jupiter" really who it depicts, or simply a readily recognizable male nude, useful in Franco’s workshop as a way of marketing prints? How did those prints function within the booming market for images in the 16th century? How many impressions were made from each drawing? Were they colored afterwards, to augment their value? Editor: So, you're suggesting we think less about symbolic meaning and more about the drawing as a commodity? Curator: Exactly! Consider also the paper itself, the source of the ink. These raw materials dictated, in part, the final form. How the materials might have been sourced, processed, and even valued in the broader economic and social contexts of the Renaissance is as important, if not more so, than the figure’s identity. Editor: I never thought of it that way, focusing on how prints were circulated. Thanks, this really expanded my view of art history. Curator: Mine too! Thinking through how art *functions* reminds us that it's more than just beautiful objects.