Riccardo Mannelli’s drawings are at the heart of his work, careful and brilliantly-observed life drawings and preparatory sketches for his paintings demonstrate alike that the quality of his work depends entirely upon the suspension of fantasy in the presence of totally believable human beings inhabiting totally believable bodies.

Mannelli’s skill is not just in his immaculate drawing technique, a masterclass in the technique, but also in his fearless posing and his attention to detail, both beautiful and conventionally less attractive. He makes his viewers think carefully about what makes bodies, especially naked bodies, so fascinating in their infinite variety.