Study for 'Titian Showing the Entombment to Charles V and Pope Clement VII'

Daniel Huntington's preparatory drawing captures a moment of artistic presentation in Renaissance history. The seated figure gestures toward his work while two heads sketched at upper right suggest the composition's principals. Rendered in graphite and wash on tan paper, the study demonstrates the academic training that defined American salon painting in the nineteenth century. Huntington's interest in historical narrative—depicting the artist as central actor in moments of power and patronage—reflects the period's elevation of history painting as the highest genre.