17 - Circle of Michelangelo (Caprese 1475–Rome 1564)

Circle of Michelangelo (Caprese 1475–Rome 1564) Figure of a man seen from behind, with his right arm raised and his left leg raised, covered by a drape Pen and brown ink 37 x 12 cm Dimensions of the original paper: 37 x 10.5 cm at the top, 37 x 12 cm toward the center, 37 x 10.8 cm at the bottom Various creases from mounting, including a horizontal one in the center; a tear to the right of the hip (approximately 2 cm); small losses at the bottom and on the right side in the center; two pinholes at the top center; a few scattered stains Thin, irregularly shaped paper, mounted on a rectangular sheet of paper, which is itself mounted on cardstock This drawing can be linked to a similar figure by Michelangelo housed at the Casa Buonarroti in Florence (see Michael Hirst, *Michelangelo: Draftsman*, Washington, National Gallery, 1988, ed. Olivetti, Milan, no. 5, reprinted on p. 17). The latter, which is larger (40.9 x 28.5 cm), was probably created around 1504, during the preparatory studies for *The Battle of Cascina*. The drawing remained in Michelangelo’s studio; he reused the blank reverse side in the summer of 1528, folding the paper in four to write a memorandum. According to scholars (Wilde, Tolnay, Hirst), Michelangelo drew inspiration from the pose of a figure in an ancient bas-relief, the Sarcophagus of Hercules, where the figure is shown in profile (see Charles de Tolnay, *Corpus dei Disegni di Michelangelo*, Novara, 1975, ed. Istituto Geografico de Agostini, reproduction p. 59, no. 49). Tolnay believes that the drawing was executed from a wax figure in Michelangelo’s studio. Hirst believes that Michelangelo first made a drawn copy of the sculpted motif before “paraphrasing” it in the studio to adapt the figure to his artistic explorations. Our drawing presents several variations: - The figure is closer to vertical than in the known drawing - The neck is slightly more tilted to the left, and the direction of the head follows this movement, obscuring the lost profile visible on the right side of the other drawing - The head is more sketchily rendered - The left leg is shown bent at a right angle, whereas in the Casa Buonarroti drawing it is merely suggested at the base of the buttock. A drape enveloping this leg is indicated with long, fine, and supple strokes. The technique used is slightly different. It could be compared to that of a drawing long attributed to Michelangelo and now in the Louvre (inv. 694; Study of a Standing Male Figure, front and back, pen and brown ink, dimensions 32.9 x 16 cm). The drawing, which is thought to be based on a lost drawing by Michelangelo, was successively attributed to Michelangelo, his school, Bandinelli, and Cellini, and then perhaps attributed to one of the master’s students, Pietro Urbano, in the most recent inventory (Paul Joannides, Louvre Museum, Department of Graphic Arts, General Inventory of Italian Drawings: Michelangelo/Pupils and Copists, Paris, 2003, ed. RMN, no. 49, pp. 194–195, repr. p. 195). Since the drawing from the Casa Buonarroti never left Michelangelo’s studio, it is difficult to maintain the attribution to Toussaint Dubreuil, unless one hypothesizes that it is a copy based on another lost copy. It seems more reasonable to us to associate it with Michelangelo’s circle, perhaps the same hand that drew the figure now preserved in the Louvre.