Head for the Figure of Saint Eugene
1777. White chalk, Red chalk on dark toned paper.Not on display
This is a preparatory drawing for the head of the main figure in the fresco Martyrdom of Saint Eugene, a work painted in 1777 and located in the cloister of Toledo Cathedral. Two preparatory sketches for the fresco are extant: one in Toledo Cathedral and the other in the Royo Sinués Collection in Zaragoza (the latter is reproduced in the Catalogue of the Bayeu Exhibition in Zaragoza in 1964). It depicts a bearded male head leaning to the left and slightly foreshortened. The Museo del Prado keeps the preparatory drawing for the figure (D000444) and another called Executioner (D000431) which corresponds to the figure executing the saint. Executioner shows how the artist left space for the same head as in this drawing.
Arnáez, Rocío, Catálogo de Dibujos II. Dibujos españoles siglo XVIII. A-B, Madrid, 1975, p.60
