Attributed to Giovanni Buonconsiglio, il Marescalco (Vicenza circa 1465-circa 1537)

The figure in the present drawing, studied twice, corresponds with one of two frescoed soldiers who flank the Onigo tomb in San Niccolò, Treviso (Fig. 1). A drawing of the other soldier by the same hand also survives (Milan, Collection Rasini; Tietze, op. cit., 1970, I, no. A769, II, pl. CXCII, no. 4). There has been much critical debate over the attribution, date and function of the two drawings and some scholars have argued that they are copies after the frescoes. However, the presence of black chalk underdrawing and the notable physiognomic differences between the figure in this drawing and that in the fresco suggest that the possibility of its being a preparatory study should be kept open, as noted by the Tietzes in 1970. Until more conclusive academic research has been carried out on these drawings, it seems reasonable to attribute them to the artist responsible for the frescoes.