Giovanni Catesi (Pisa fl. 1590-1600)

Bearing the artist's own notes and signature, this sheet is a unique record of the draftsmanship of Giovanni Catesi, the Tuscan sculptor and goldsmith responsible for the bronze reliefs on the portal of Pisa Cathedral. Drawn on both sides, it presents a youth dressed in a tunic, holding a book, with some floral designs on the recto, and a couple of youths on the verso. Much can be inferred about Catesi's artistic formation: he was inspired by the work of Tuscan sculptor-draftsmen like Baccio Bandinelli, Michelangelo and more evidently Benvenuto Cellini, as suggested by the incisive definition of the figures. The taste for elongated forms reveals similarities with the artist's sculpted work, much indebted to the elegance of Giambologna and Giovanni Battista Caccini.