Seated Youth Facing Right, Seen from the Back 1560 - 1609

Annibale Carracci made this drawing of a male nude in pen and brown ink in Italy, probably sometime in the late 16th century. We can understand this image as part of the Italian Renaissance revival of classical art. This drawing represents the male body as a sculptural form: heroic, robust, and idealized. The ability to represent the human body with anatomical accuracy, particularly in dynamic poses, was a key marker of artistic skill during the Renaissance. It served as evidence of an artist's intellectual and creative ability and, like classical sculpture, was considered by many to be among the highest forms of art. This was codified in the institutionalised teaching practices of European art academies where the drawing of male nudes from life became a central feature of artistic training. To understand the context of this drawing better, we can investigate the history of the Italian art academy and analyse other drawings and paintings of male nudes from this period.