Study for "The Dream – Paolo and Francesca"

Study for "The Dream – Paolo and Francesca" is a significant 1910 drawing by Umberto Boccioni. Executed using a complex mixed media technique, the work combines graphite, charcoal, colored pencil, and wash on paper, demonstrating Boccioni’s nuanced approach to figural and expressive studies during his transitional period.

The study served as preparation for Boccioni’s 1912 painting, The Dream, which explored the tragic narrative of the illicit lovers Paolo and Francesca, drawn from Dante’s Inferno. The composition focuses intensely on multiple overlapping and dissolving heads, rendered with the energetic, diagonal strokes characteristic of Boccioni’s emergent Futurist sensibility. He employs the varied textures of charcoal and graphite to define the contours and weight of the figures, while subtle applications of colored pencil and wash introduce tonal shifts and implied color relationships.

Dating from the pivotal moment just preceding the full artistic launch of the Futurist movement, this drawing illustrates Boccioni’s commitment to capturing both psychological emotion and physical dynamism in his forms. The exploration of clustered and repeated heads suggests the artist’s interest in simultaneity and the depiction of movement through static media. As a critical example of his graphic output from this era, the drawing is held in the permanent collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. High-resolution prints of such foundational drawings are frequently made available to the public domain, allowing scholars and enthusiasts broader access to Boccioni’s conceptual development.