Reclining Female Nude 1600 - 1635

Domenico Tintoretto made this drawing in black chalk on blue paper sometime between 1570 and 1635. Tintoretto would have been trained by his father, the celebrated Venetian painter Jacopo Tintoretto, in whose studio he also worked. Drawings like this allowed artists to practice depicting the human form, and this one is an example of the tradition of nude studies that developed in Italian academies. This academy was an institution that played a large role in shaping the careers of artists by providing them with training, exhibition opportunities, and networks of patronage. We might ask ourselves what effects these academies had on art. To understand this drawing fully, one needs to consider the role of the academy in shaping the careers of artists and legitimizing some kinds of art over others. We can do that by looking at historical sources like membership records and exhibition catalogs.