35 Study of Saint Francis*
Dead Christ"
Black chalk (recto); black and white chalk (verso); H:- 5 cm (i5I5/i6in.); W: 28.4 cm (u^3 /i6in.)
8s.GG.379
MARKS AND INSCRIPTIONS: (Recto) at bottom left cor-
ner, collection marks of Sir Joshua Reynolds (L. 2364),
Thomas Hudson (L. 2432); at bottom right corner, col-
lection mark of Jonathan Richardson, Sr. (L. 2183);
(verso) unidentified stamp in purple ink.
PROVENANCE: Jonathan Richardson, Sr., London; Sir
Joshua Reynolds, London; Thomas Hudson, London;
Michel Gaud, Saint-Tropez.
EXHIBITIONS: II primato del disegno: Firenze e la Toscana
dei Medici nelVEuropa del Cinquecento, Palazzo Strozzi,
Florence, 1980, no. 404 (catalogue by L. Berti et al.).
BIBLIOGRAPHY: J. Cox-Rearick, The Drawings of Pon-
tormo, 2nd edn. (New York, 1981), vol. i, pp. 357-1,
357-2, nos. 48a, 67a; A. Forlani-Tempesti, "Un foglio
del Pontormo," Bollettino d'arte 66 (January-March
1981), pp. 117-122.
THIS IMPORTANT SHEET MADE ITS FIRST APPEARANCE
in the literature in 1980 and became the subject of a sub-
sequent definitive study by Forlani-Tempesti (1981). The
recto now consists of a study for the kneeling figure of
Saint Francis at the right of the altarpiece in San Michele
Visdomini. Two other drawings for the same figure, one
showing him studied as a nude, the other of his face, are
in the UfEzi, Florence (inv. 6744? recto, 92201 F verso;
Cox-Rearick 1981, nos. 48, 49). The study of Saint Fran-
cis on the Museum's sheet was drawn over a partially
obliterated standing man with a staff in his left hand,
posed frontally with his head tilted to the left. In certain
respects this figure recalls Pontormo's very early Saint
John the Baptist (Florence, Palazzo Vecchio), but Forlani-
Tempesti (1981, pp. 117, 119) is probably correct in pre-
ferring an association with the Saint James in the San
Michele Visdomini altarpiece. In addition to its signifi-
cance as a study for this painting, the Museum's recto il-
lustrates the early evolution of Pontormo s mannerism,
evident even in the development of the Saint Francis
from the Uffizi's monumental and corporeal nude study
to the Museum's more thinly proportioned and abstract
drawing.
The verso of the Museum's drawing is no less com-
plex. It now is dominated by the powerful image of the
dead Christ, with his head thrown dramatically back-
ward. As on the recto, this figure was drawn over an-
other image, in this case a possibly female figure shown
standing in profile. Forlani-Tempesti (1981, p. 121) has
noted general similarities between this and other stand-
ing figures in the Story of Joseph series, but no single
comparison appears definitive. The right margin of the
verso also contains fragmentary sketches, perhaps of
drapery, indicating that the sheet used to be larger and
had further drawing on it. There are six chalk studies by
Pontormo that are related to the dead Christ; these are in
the Museum Boymans-van Beuningen, Rotterdam (inv.
1285 verso) and in the Uffizi (inv. 667OF recto and verso,
6689F recto, 669OF verso, 669IF recto; Cox-Rearick 1981,
nos. 62-67). As Clapp has suggested, these series of
drawings may well have been made for Pontormo's Pieta
in the monastery of San Gallo (destroyed).^1 This one is
among the most affecting of the series and seems to re-
flect the impact of Michelangelo on the young artist.i. F. Clapp, Les dessins dePontormo (Paris, 1914), p. 222.PONTORMO • ITALIAN SCHOOL 9!