The Cleveland Museum of Art

Collection Online as of April 24, 2024

Figure Studies for the Sistine Ceiling (verso)

Figure Studies for the Sistine Ceiling (verso)

1510–11
(Italian, 1475–1564)
Italy, 16th century
red chalk heightened with traces of white
Sheet: 23.4 x 33.5 cm (9 3/16 x 13 3/16 in.); Secondary Support: 24.4 x 34.4 cm (9 5/8 x 13 9/16 in.)
Gift in memory of Henry G. Dalton by his nephews George S. Kendrick and Harry D. Kendrick 1940.465.b
Location: not on view

Description

Universally considered one of the greatest artists of the Italian Renaissance, Michelangelo devoted four years to painting the vast ceiling fresco in the Sistine Chapel. This preparatory study portrays one of the 20 athletic male nudes, known as ignudi, who serve as supporting figures at each corner of the Old Testament scenes painted down the center of the ceiling. Michelangelo worked out the positioning of the ignudi in red chalk drawings before beginning to paint each section of wet plaster. The energy and monumentality of the figure in red chalk, whose body extends beyond the sheet, suggests the heroic athleticism of Michelangelo’s sculpture.
  • 1741
    Pierre Crozat, Paris (L. 3612), his sale 1741
    1775-76
    Pierre Jean Mariette (L. 1852), Paris, his sale 1775-76, lot 236
    Bürckel family, Vienna
    1933
    Dr. Alexander de Frey, Temesvar, Romania, his sale, 1933, lot 7 (as school of Michelangelo)
    1937
    purchased by Henry G. Dalton (1862-1939), Cleveland
    1939
    by descent to his nephews George S. and Harry D. Kendrick, Cleveland
    1940-
    gift to The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH
  • Francis, Henry S. "A Drawing in Red Chalk by Michelangelo." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 30, no. 3 (March 1943): 25-27. Mentioned: p. 25-26; Reproduced: p. 27 www.jstor.org
    Pillsbury, Edmund P. Florence and the Arts; Five Centuries of Patronage. 1971. Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 58
    Olszewski, Edward J. "A Design for the Sistine Chapel Ceiling." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 63, no. 1 (January 1976): 12-26. Mentioned and reproduced: p. 12-14, fig. 2-3 www.jstor.org
    Miller, Michael. "A Michelangelo Drawing." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 77, no. 5 (May 1990): 146-174. Mentioned: p. 146-174; Reproduced: Back, p. 148, fig. 3 www.jstor.org
    Miller, Bruce F. "Technical Note on the Cleveland Michelangelo Drawing." The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art 77, no. 5 (May 1990): 175-179. Reproduced: p. 177; Mentioned: p. 175-179 www.jstor.org
    Cleveland Museum of Art, Diane DeGrazia, and Carter E. Foster. Master Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art in association with Rizzoli International Publications, New York, 2000. Mentioned: P. 6, 30-33, 284; Reproduced: P. 32, cat. no. 6
    Cleveland Museum of Art. The CMA Companion: A Guide to the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2014. Mentioned and reproduced: P. 155
    Chapman, H. "Michelangelo: Divine Draftsman and Designer." Master Drawings 56, no.3 (Autumn 2018): 385-390. Reproduced: p. 387, fig. 4
  • Michelangelo: Mind of the Master. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (September 22, 2019-January 5, 2020); J. Paul Getty Museum, Los Angeles, CA (co-organizer) (February 25-November 1, 2020) https://www.getty.edu/art/exhibitions/michelangelo_drawings/.
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    Object Lessons: Cleveland Creates an Art Museum. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 7-September 8, 1991).
    Italian Drawings from the Permanent Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (December 16, 1986-March 1, 1987).
    National Schools of Style. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 14-September 18, 1983).
    The Lessons of the Academy. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (February 8-May 29, 1983).
    Connoisseurship in Italian Figural Compositions. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 21, 1980-February 15, 1981).
    The Draftsman's Eye: Late Italian Renaissance Schools and Styles. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (March 6-April 22, 1979).
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    Florence and the Arts: Five Centuries of Patronage. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (July 13-September 19, 1971).
    Drawings from the Museum Collection. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (June 9, 1967-January 1, 1968).
    Seven Centuries of Italian Art. Museum of Art, Rhode Island School of Design, RI (organizer) (April 12-May 21, 1967).
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    Drawings. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 11-September 10, 1963).
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    Drawings from the Museum Collection: 15th-17th Centuries. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (May 18-October 11, 1960).
    Department of Prints and Drawings Opening Exhibition. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (March 3, 1958-October 11, 1959).
    Exhibition of the Month: Ways of Drawing Nudes. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (January 30-June 6, 1945).
  • {{cite web|title=Figure Studies for the Sistine Ceiling (verso)|url=false|author=Michelangelo Buonarroti|year=1510–11|access-date=24 April 2024|publisher=Cleveland Museum of Art}}

Source URL:

https://www.clevelandart.org/art/1940.465.b