Nude Youth in the Pose of the Spinario

Nude Youth in the Pose of the Spinario by Peter Paul Rubens Flemish, 1577–1640 is a masterful example of draftsmanship created between 1610 and 1616. This detailed study, which originated from the prolific artistic center of Antwerp in Belgium, employs black chalk meticulously heightened with white chalk, applied to tan laid paper. This medium provided Rubens with the ideal tools to explore the human form, allowing for deep shadows and brilliant highlights, techniques central to the emerging Baroque style. The drawing reflects the practice prevalent in Rubens’s massive workshop, where such studies were essential preparatory works for his large-scale oil compositions.

The subject is a young male figure depicted in the challenging and historically significant posture known as the Spinario (Thorn-Puller). This specific pose is derived from a celebrated Hellenistic bronze sculpture of a boy removing a thorn from his foot, a motif widely copied in classical and post-Renaissance art. Rubens’s decision to draw a live model in this established attitude demonstrates his deep engagement with classical sources and his dedication to mastering human anatomy. He rendered the youth with careful attention to torsion and musculature, utilizing the sharp contrast between the black chalk lines and the generous accents of white chalk to model the body's volumes.

This important study, Nude Youth in the Pose of the Spinario, is classified as a drawing and confirms the artist's stature as a central figure in early 17th-century European art. The piece is held in the permanent collection of the Art Institute of Chicago, making the image widely available for scholarly review and enabling the subsequent creation of high-quality fine art prints.