Poros Assailed by the Macedonian Army (recto)

1546

From the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art

Dominant colour

Poros Assailed by the Macedonian Army (recto) is a 1546 by Perino del Vaga, a Renaissance work, held at Cleveland Museum of Art.

Who painted this?: Perino del Vaga
When & what style?: 1546 · Renaissance
Where can I see it?: Cleveland Museum of Art

About this work

You see soldiers in swirling armor, swords raised, horses rearing—all sketched in quick, dark lines and pale washes. This is a practice drawing for a big wall painting in a pope’s castle. The artist borrowed a pose straight from Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel ceiling, right down to the way the man’s arm cocks back with his sword. To see how Michelangelo did it, look up the subject *Italy, 16th century*.

The story of this work

Overview

Perino del Vaga made this spirited pen and ink and wash drawing as a preliminary sketch for a fresco cycle depicting the military campaigns of Alexander the Great, intended for the apartments of Pope Paul III in the Castel Sant’Angelo in Rome. At the time, he was also working on commissions at the Vatican Palace where he studied and drew from the frescoes of Michelangelo in the Sistine Chapel. One pose in the drawing, that of the man in front who, sword poised over his head, prepares to strike a man below, was probably inspired by Michelangelo’s rendering of David and Goliath on the ceiling.…

Did you know?

This artist was in Rome in 1527 when the troops of Charles V sacked the city, and was imprisoned and forced to pay a heavy ransom for his, his wife's, and his daughter's safe release.

Read the full account in the museum source.

About the artist

Artist

Perino del Vaga

Piero Bonaccorsi (1501 – October 19, 1547), known as Perino (or Perin) del Vaga, was an Italian painter and draughtsman of the Late Renaissance/Mannerism.

See the richer artist page