1528 or 1529

Arezzo.

In the inventory of 1532 of Rosso’s possessions that he left when he fled Arezzo in 1529 (see DOC.13) there is listed, as the last item: “Un altro ingnudo rosso,” with “altro” probably referring back to the twenty-eight listed earlier in this inventory (L.30).  Like all the other drawings listed in this inventory, it is most likely that this one was done after Rosso’s flight from Rome in mid-1527.  Unfortunately, there are no surviving original red chalk drawings of nudes from this period.  Two copies of drawings of male nudes made or used for the cartoon that Rosso created for Domenico Alfani in mid- or late 1527 are known (D.21 and D.22) and these are executed in red chalk, suggesting that the original may also have been in this medium.  There are also earlier and later original red chalk drawings of nudes (D.7, D.9, D.12, D.16, and D.68).  It is possible that this “ingnudo rosso” and others, including some of the twenty-eight mentioned in one inventory entry, were made for the Lagrime fresco project (see the Preface to D.31-34 and the related entries, and L.25).