Saint Jerome in Penitence

The Mannings proposed that this drawing and a Hercules in the same bizarre, rather unattractive hand were juvenile drawings by Cambiaso. While the attribution has not been seconded, it has great merit. The continuous, rhythmic pen work reflects a naïve understanding of the drawings of Perino del Vaga. And the identical isolated and quavering musculature, the hairpin articulation of the forearm, and the irregular fill of hatching characterize a very early drawing in the Prado that is closely related to Cambiaso’s frescoes in the palace of Antonio Doria and already unmistakable in certain mannerisms.