Attributed to Pietro Buonaccorsi, called Perino del Vaga (Florence 1501-1547 Rome)

This powerful study of an eagle at rest can be compared with a double-sided sheet at Chatsworth featuring similar birds and other rapidly sketched studies (inv. 15050a-b; see M. Jaffé, The Devonshire Collection of Italian Drawings. Roman and Neapolitan Schools, London, 1994, no. 360, ill.). Particularly close to the Bloxam drawing is the application of the brown wash as well as the fine cross-hatching seen on the claws, quite typical of the young Perino.