Young Man Holding a Book

With economical touches of the pen and brush, the Venetian artist Giovanni Battista Tiepolo— a master of the ink medium—deftly conveys this standing male figure’s form, features, and placement in space. The work most likely belongs to a series of drawings of clothed figures known as the Sole Figure Vestite, which the artist produced for reference, experimentation, and the demonstration of his virtuosic technique.