 |
| Amico Aspertini Street scene - Classical architecture with beggars before 1552 drawing British Museum |
"This was acquired [in 2001] for a modest sum from a London auction where it was discovered among a batch of anonymous drawings. The imaginative interpretation of classical architecture and the vivid characterisation of the figures are typical of Aspertini's eccentric style. Born in Bologna, the artist spent a number of years in Rome where he studied classical sculpture and architecture. Aspertini was also deeply affected by the earthy realism of northern art. His highly individual interpretation of these two contrasting traditions is discernible in the present work, the grandeur of the classical buildings contrasting with the miserable poverty of the beggars who feature so prominently in the composition."
– curator's notes from the British Museum
 |
| Amico Aspertini Nude male figure seated on the ground ca. 1535-40 drawing Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
"The figure, posed on a shelf-like projection ornamented with a scalloped valance, may be studied for one of the many monochrome façade decorations that Aspertini is said to have executed, above all in Bologna. The reeds or long grasses indicated in the background are possibly intended to identify the figure as a river god. The stocky, thick-necked physical type is typical of Aspertini, but here the figure is invested with a certain monumental nobility."
– curator's notes from the Metropolitan Museum
 |
| Amico Aspertini Bacchanalian Scene ca. 1520-35 drawing Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
 |
| Amico Aspertini Studies after the Antique, including Fall of Phaëthon before 1552 drawing Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York |
 |
| Amico Aspertini Hercules wrestling with Achelous in the form of a Bull before 1552 drawing National Galleries of Scotland |
"In ancient mythology, Hercules and Achelous were rival suitors of the nymph Dejaneira. As they wrestled for her hand, Achelous transformed himself into a bull, but Hercules defeated him by tearing off one of his horns. Aspertini was one of the great eccentrics of sixteenth-century Italian art, and in this drawing any pretence of anatomical accuracy or classical proportion is sacrificed to expressive force."
– curator's notes from National Galleries of Scotland
 |
| Amico Aspertini Sacking of a City before 1552 drawing National Galleries of Scotland |
 |
| Amico Aspertini Two nude figures and part of a third before 1552 drawing National Gallery of Canada |
 |
| Amico Aspertini Massacre of the Innocents ca. 1510-20 drawing Getty Museum, Los Angeles |
"On learning of the birth of Christ, whom the Magi called "the King of the Jews," King Herod felt his throne was in jeopardy. Knowing only that the baby was somewhere in Bethlehem, the king ordered Jewish boys around Bethlehem under two years old to be murdered. Christ's parents fled to Egypt and saved him. For this drawing, Amico Aspertini borrowed from ancient Roman sculpture that he had seen in Rome five or ten years before. The intertwining figures at right parallel those on ancient Roman sarcophagi. Aspertini's art also included unidealized shapes and awkward bodies. Original and unconventional for the date, his figures look like local peasants rather than ideal types. Aspertini's draftsmanship characteristically included encrusted white highlights, squat figures, and manic energy. His extreme white heightening leads the drawing a feeling of near three-dimensionality."
– curator's notes from the Getty Museum
 |
| Amico Aspertini Sketchbook Tower of Babel, with ruins and goats ca. 1530-40 drawing on paper British Museum |
 |
| Amico Aspertini Sketchbook Male nudes before a landscape of broken antique statues and columns ca. 1530-40 drawing on paper British Museum |
"Ruins in a landscape with a male torso at the centre. The latter is . . . reminiscent of an untraced male torso [in marble] recorded by Heemskerck in the cortile of Casa Maffei in Rome, circa 1532-1537. The nudes in the foreground seem to be part of a wider scene, perhaps a resurrection of the flesh: the figure with the lower body inside the ground is being attended by another figure, and almost all of the others are indicating towards the sky."
– curator's notes from the British Museum
 |
| Amico Aspertini Studies of two crucified men (recto) ca. 1530-40 drawing British Museum |
 |
| Amico Aspertini Studies of two crucified men (verso) ca. 1530-40 drawing British Museum |
"Perhaps these are studies for an unrealised composition of 'Ten Thousand Martyrs on Mount Ararat' – a subject that requires multiple depictions of crucified men. On stylistic grounds they can be dated to the 1530s, as the strong influence of Michelangelo and the rapid manner of drawing are paralleled in the later of the two British Museum Aspertini albums."
– curator's notes from the British Museum
 |
| circle of Amico Aspertini Classical Frieze with Satyrs, Putti, and other figures ca. 1520-1550 drawing Morgan Library, New York |
 |
| circle of Amico Aspertini Mythological Frieze with Reclining woman, Infant, and Snake in a bowl ca. 1520-1550 drawing Morgan Library, New York |
 |
| Amico Aspertini Battle between Romans and barbarians before 1552 drawing British Museum |
"Based on the right-hand-section of a 2nd century AD relief of Trajan's Victory of the Dacians that was incorporated into the Arch of Constantine built in 315 AD. Aspertini has made changes to the position of the figures . . and added the wild-haired horseman in the background. As Faletti suggests, such changes, plus the finished appearance of the drawing, strongly suggest that it is based on sketches made during Aspertini's first trip to Rome in 1496."
– curator's notes from the British Museum