Image of man battling serpents is confirmed as preparation for renaissance artist’s masterpiece
Photograph: Alex CorpPhotograph: Alex CorpA 16th-century drawing of a nude man, seen from behind, has been identified as a study byThe red chalk drawing has been linked to one of the figures battling serpents on thepainting. It is thought to date from 1512, shortly before Michelangelo painted that final section of one of the world’s most famous works of art, which he had started in 1508.
The attribution has been supported by Paul Joannides, emeritus professor of art history at Cambridge university and one of the world’s leading authorities on Michelangelo, who will publish it in the scholarly: “For an artist of Michelangelo’s greatness, and greatness as a draughtsman, any new discovery has some level of excitement. But this is a drawing by Michelangelo for one of the greatest masterpieces of western art.
It is one of relatively few developed drawings for the Sistine ceiling to have survived. Georgio Vasari, the Italian renaissance master best known for his 1550 book, wrote of Michelangelo: “Just before his death, he burned a large number of his own drawings, sketches and cartoons to prevent anyone from seeing the labours he endured or the ways he tested his genius, for fear that he might seem less than perfect.
The male figure in the newly discovered drawing is shown from another angle in the final painted version. “Looking at the drawing, one would assume that the figure was intended to be seen horizontally. It isn’t. It’s intended to be seen with the drawing rotated 90 degrees clockwise. Put the two images side by side and there it is. Once examined, it was obvious that the drawing is preparatory for this figure.” Joannides said.
The drawing – which measures 15.7 by 19.3cm – came to light after its owner, an anonymous European collector, sent Joannides a photograph through an intermediary. It had been purchased privately in 2014, when it had a tentative attribution to Rosso Fiorentino, a 16th-century follower of Michelangelo.
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