LELIO ORSI (C. 1511-87)
A crossbowman
c.1575RCIN 904791
Orsi frescoed the façades of many houses, but only fragments of these decorations survive. This seems to have been a study for the façade of his brother’s house in Reggio Emilia. A crossbow- man aims his bolt at passers-by in the street below; other preparatory drawings for the scheme show that Orsi filled the modest surface area with fire and cloud, collapsing columns and struggling nudes, no doubt as an advertisement of his talents.
No. 50