Artwork
Musician and Dancing Figures
Musician and Dancing Figures is an ink drawing by the Baroque artist Donato Creti. It dates from 1710 and is held in the collection of the National Gallery of Art.
- Inscription
- Inscribed:in later hand, lower right in graphite: 109; lower right verso: [Lm?]
About this work
Overview
Donato Creti's 'Musician and Dancing Figures' is a drawing created in 1710 using pen, brown ink, and wash on laid paper. It depicts four nude figures in dynamic poses.
Subject & Meaning
The drawing shows two dancing women and two men, one playing a musical instrument and the other holding an unidentified curved object. The figures' lively poses suggest a study of movement and music.
Technique & Style
Creti's use of quick, loose lines and brown ink with faint washes gives the drawing a soft, expressive quality. The style reflects his academic approach, characterized by crisp figure modeling, within the broader context of the Rococo period.
Context
This drawing was likely a workshop exercise, used to practice capturing movement and musical themes. Creti's work, while contemporaneous with the Rococo, is distinguished by its more formal and less decorative tendencies.
![Two Studies of the Statue of Alexander and Bucephalus [verso]](https://artifactworldgallery.com/img/hubert-robert--two-studies-of-the-statue-of-alexander-and-bucephalus-verso--c8baec3f622cceea-w320.webp)
Own this work as a print
Artist & collection
Artist
Donato Creti (24 February 1671 – 31 January 1749) was an Italian painter of the Rococo period, active mostly in Bologna, Papal States.
Alexander the Great Threatened by His Father
The Cumaean Sibyl
Vision of Saint Anthony of Padua![Magdalene Washing the Feet of Christ with Eight Disciples Looking On [recto], by Donato Creti](https://artifactworldgallery.com/img/donato-creti--magdalene-washing-the-feet-of-christ-with-eight-disciples-lo--25318e941cc7fc91-w320.webp)
Magdalene Washing the Feet of Christ with Eight Disciples Looking On [recto]![The Adoration of the Magi [recto], by Donato Creti](https://artifactworldgallery.com/img/donato-creti--the-adoration-of-the-magi-recto--2cfd5d76b55e821e-w320.webp)
The Adoration of the Magi [recto]![Penitent Magdalene with Angels in a Landscape [recto], by Donato Creti](https://artifactworldgallery.com/img/donato-creti--penitent-magdalene-with-angels-in-a-landscape-recto--329b67c038e377df-w320.webp)
Penitent Magdalene with Angels in a Landscape [recto]
The Ascension of the Virgin![Holy Family [recto], by Donato Creti](https://artifactworldgallery.com/img/donato-creti--holy-family-recto--7e3a584f7b6c5852-w320.webp)
Holy Family [recto]
- Two Studies of the Statue of Alexander and Bucephalus [verso]
![Seven Figures Witnessing an Ascension [verso], by Donato Creti](https://artifactworldgallery.com/img/donato-creti--seven-figures-witnessing-an-ascension-verso--e80b3c17c151416b-w320.webp)
Seven Figures Witnessing an Ascension [verso]![Biblical Scene [verso], by Sebastiano Ricci](https://artifactworldgallery.com/img/sebastiano-ricci--biblical-scene-verso--d33f1e2abb3d29f7-w320.webp)
Biblical Scene [verso]![Female Figure (Penitent Magdalene?) [verso], by Donato Creti](https://artifactworldgallery.com/img/donato-creti--female-figure-penitent-magdalene-verso--b0756d00ad6853a6-w320.webp)
Female Figure (Penitent Magdalene?) [verso]
A Bacchic frieze; below, two studies of classical ornament![Figures Studies [recto], by Girolamo Mazzola Bedoli](https://artifactworldgallery.com/img/girolamo-mazzola-bedoli--figures-studies-recto--1ed79b3eaa10b09e-w320.webp)
Figures Studies [recto]
Abraham wrestling with the Angel
Women Dancing![Figure Studies [recto], by Giovanni Battista Cipriani](https://artifactworldgallery.com/img/giovanni-battista-cipriani--figure-studies-recto--32b47b1a71716a78-w320.webp)
Figure Studies [recto]
Dancing Figure