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JACOPO NEGRETTI called PALMA IL GIOVANE (Venice 1548 - Venezia 1628) SKETCHES OF FIGURES IN THE CLOUDS
Pen and brown ink, 137 x 145 mm. Inscribed 'Tintoreto' at the bottom right corner. Pasted on an old mount with the attribution 'TINTORET 204'. On the back of the mount, in pen, 'TINTORET', the letter 'G' and a coat of arms.
A strong pen drawing, to be dated to the late years of 16th century. Similar figures appear in a drawing in the Hermitage. See Stefania Mason Rinaldi, 'Palma il Giovane 1548–1628 – Disegni e dipinti', Milan 1990; cat. D50, illustrated. According Mason Rinaldi, the Hermitage drawing could be connected with the lost 'Apoteosi di Santa Maria Maddalena' in the church of Santa Maria delle Convertite, Venice.

Palma was born into a Venetian family of artists. He was the great-nephew of the painter Palma il Vecchio and the son of Antonio Negretti, a minor painter pupil of Bonifazio de' Pitati who, after Bonifazio's death, inherited his shop and clientele. In 1567 the Duke of Urbino recognized Palma's talents, supporting him for four years and sending him to Rome, where he remained until about 1573. There, Palma embraced the practice of making preparatory drawings, a custom that was traditionally associated with central Italy. He returned to Venice in the mid-1570s, where his blend of naturalism and moderate Mannerist exaggeration became popular. Palma's first major public commission arrived after a 1577 fire in the Doge's Palace: three scenes in its grand council hall. By the mid-1580s he had incorporated Tintoretto's versatile figure postures and Titian's thick surfaces, emphasis on light, and loose brushstroke. After Tintoretto's death in 1594, Palma became Venice's dominant artist perpetuating his style.