Saint Bartholomew

Italian artist Fortunato Duranti's preparatory drawing depicts Saint Bartholomew in classical pose, holding the implements of his martyrdom—the flaying knife and skin. The figure stands barefoot in contrapposto within an architectural frame, rendered in pen and ink with careful attention to drapery and anatomical construction. The visible grid lines and architectural guidelines indicate this as a working study, likely for a larger religious commission. Duranti's linear style and figure study approach reflect mid-nineteenth-century academic practice, when such detailed drawings served as essential blueprints for monumental works in churches and public buildings across Italy.