A man in profile to the left, his right arm raised, his right arm resting on his thigh

The relaxed and unusual pose of this figure suggest that it was almost certainly drawn by Piranesi on a whim while sitting in his studio. This suggestion is reinforced by the fact that it is drawn on the back of a fragment of printed text, suggesting that it was a scrap of an old proof print was in Piranesi's reach when he felt the urge to draw. Although the figure's pose is enigmatic, he may be a studio assistant reaching above his head to pull wet sheets of paper from a drying line, with one sheet already held across his outstretched leg. A drawing of four studio assistants engaged in various activities such as drawing ink across a plate was sold in these Rooms from the Normand Collection; 6 July 1999, lot 124. Another, of Three men very similar in handling to the present drawing, in the Ecole Nationale des Beaux-Arts, Paris, has a study on the verso for the view of the Ponte Molle sul Tevere from the Vedute di Roma, of 1762, perhaps suggested an approximate date for the present drawing (H. Thomas, The Drawings of Giovanni Battista Piranesi, New York, 1954, no. 74.