A woman carrying a bag turned to the left

This unpublished drawing is one of only ten securely attributed to Juan de Juanes (D. Angulo & A.E. Pérez Sánchez, A Corpus of Spanish Drawings 1400-1600, London, 1975, nos. 168-171, others illustrated in F.B. Doménech, Juan de Juanes, exhib. cat., Valencia, Museo de Bellas Artes, 2000, pp. 94, 99, 161, 176 and 192). The drawing closest in handling to the present sheet is a Saint Sebastian in the Casa de la Modena in Madrid (F.B. Doménech, op. cit., p. 111). It shows the same handling of the pen in short strokes combined with a very smooth application of wash. A drawing given to Juan de Juanes on the basis of style is in the Getty Museum (N. Turner, European Drawings 3, Los Angeles, 1997, no. 111).
Juan de Juanes, son of the Murcian artist Vicente Maçip, was the major painter in Valencia during the High Renaissance. His style was influenced by Italian painters such as Raphael and Leonardo, but his technique is more akin to that of the Flemish masters.