Studies for a Figure of Saint Francis Kneeling in a Three-Quarter View and for His Hands (recto); Studies for a Figure of Saint Francis Kneeling in Profile (verso). Artist: Annibale Carracci (Italian, Bologna 1560-1609 Rome). Dimensions: sheet: 13 1/4 x 11 5/16 in. (33.6 x 28.8 cm). Date: 1583-85.The recto of this sheet, with studies for a kneeling Saint Francis with his arms extended, relate to the figure of the saint seen in the lower left foreground of the Pietà with Saints (Galleria Nazionale inv. 169, Parma; oil on canvas, 373.8 x 239.7 cm), a monumental altarpiece Annibale painted for the church of the Capuchin Fathers in Parma in 1585. The artist focused his attention on Saint Francis's hands, as they have a key role in the narrative of the painting, which depicts the saint introducing the viewer to the dead body of Christ. The artist's command of anatomy is evident in the four repeated studies of this detail: one in pen and ink, the rest sharply rendered with red chalk. The sa