Giovanni Francesco Bezzi, Il Nosadella (Bologna (?) ca. 1500–1571 Bologna)

An interesting example of Mannerist draftsmanship, this newly attributed sheet by Nosadella records a composition for which at least one related drawing is known: the figure of the bearded Saint Petronius at right, holding the the model of Bologna on his lap, studied on a sheet recently on the art market (Gonnelli, Florence, 14 June 2012, lot 171). Datable to the 1560's and executed in his typical technique with pale brown ink over faint traces of black chalk, here Nosadella is leaning towards a more classical language and compositional structure, distancing himself from the ornamental complexity of his earlier designs influenced by Pellegrino Tibaldi, his first master.