Study of a Standing Young Man Holding a Book

A studio assistant posing with a book serves as a model for the bearded St. Ambrose in Andrea's Madonna of St. Ambrose (private collection). He wears a tunic with rolled up sleeves, and his youthful face looks up and to the left, where in the painting the Virgin and Child are seated. Strong impressions of black chalk record the crumpled folds of his sleeves above his elbows and his robust forearms, even though in the painting the bishop's robes cover these features and mask the carefully observed distribution of weight and balance in the garzone's legs.