The Getty Center in Los Angeles (31 May–4 Sept) considers a once prominent feature of the buildings of Renaissance Rome. Focusing on the artistry of frescoes that adorned the exteriors of palazzos – with depictions of battles and heroic feats – the show also presents works by artists who sketched the frescoes themselves. With very few of the original murals remaining, the drawings offer a glimpse into a lost art. Among the highlights is the ‘Early Life of Taddeo Zuccaro’ a series of 20 drawings by the eponympus subject’s younger brother, Federico Zuccaro (c. 1541–1609). The series was originally intended as designs for frescoes in the Palazzo Zuccari. Find out more on the Getty Center’s website.
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Taddeo in the Belvedere Court in the Vatican Drawing the Laocoön (c. 1595), Federico Zuccaro. J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
Taddeo Decorating the Façade of the Palazzo Mattei (c. 1595), Federico Zuccaro. J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles
View of Saint Peter’s (recto); Study of a Young Man (verso) (1603), Federico Zuccaro. J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles