Head of Pope Urban VIII (Maffeo Vincenzo Barberini) (recto); An Outstretched Arm (verso)

Confidently executed with sweeping strokes of black chalk expressively built up around the outlines, this portrait drawing of Pope Urban VIII Barberini (reigned 1623-1644), which appears to be an animated likeness done from life of the great maecenas of Baroque Rome, has been convincingly identified as the work of Pietro da Cortona's gifted pupil, Pietro Locatelli, relating to his design in reverse for the main figure seen at center in the tapestry cartoon of 1669-70 that represents the Union of the Duchy of Urbino and the Papal States (now in the Palazzo Venezia, Rome). The scale of this unusally large portrait drawing is life-size, and probably closely corresponds to that of the final work. The verso of the sheet represents the truncated design of a woman's arm also related to Locatelli's tapestry cartoon.

Credit: Harry G. Sperling Fund, 1996