Studies for the Resurrection

The rapidly drawn, loose character of the pen lines on the recto and verso of this sheet suggest that they were probably Cigoli’s first sketches for an altarpiece dedicated to the Resurrection. Cigoli painted two versions of the Resurrection, one for the Palazzo Pitti, in Florence, in 1590, and a second for a church in nearby Arezzo, in 1591. The drawing relates to both paintings, but the framing lines of the central sketch correspond more closely to the proportions of the Arezzo painting. This suggests that the sheet represents Cigoli’s ideas for adapting the wider composition of the earlier Pitti painting to the tall, narrow altarpiece in Arezzo. On the recto of the sheet, he began with the composition shown at center; then, in the margins, he experimented with alternate poses and positions for the soldiers in the foreground. On the verso, he explored alternate possibilities for the group of soldiers and the figure of Christ. In the center, Cigoli developed the upright, serpentine figure of Christ that he ultimately used for the Arezzo altarpiece.