P 1 : KsF
0521551331 c 01 CUNY 160 /Joannides 052155 133 1 January 10 , 2007 22 : 22
82 WHOLLY OR PARTIALLY AUTOGRAPH SHEETS CATALOGUE 6H.The right shoulder and upper arm of a man, seen from
the rear.
I. Indecipherable.
J. Traces of an erased and illegible inscription (just
below A).With the upper edge as baseK.Traces of writing, probably the upper sections of an
inscription on an old mount, which overlapped it and
impinged on the drawing.Discussion
The compiler can see no justification for Parker’s view
that this page bears drawings by any hand other than
Michelangelo’s. The pen and stylus drawings and inscrip-
tions probably came first. The charging horseman was
presumably made with a background group in theBattle
of Cascinain mind. Although the forms indicated by
Michelangelo at the lower right corner of the sheet can-
not clearly be deciphered, they seem to represent a mod-
ified reversal of D, and it is probable that Michelangelo
was thinking of showing a battle of opposed cavalry-
men, no doubt inspired by Leonardo’s complementary
scheme. As noted previously, the rapid sketch of a com-
bat found on a drawing in the British Museum (W 3
recto/Corpus 36 )isanimaginative variant of Leonardo’s
design.
A further link with Leonardo is suggested by the black
chalk sketch of a horse, the first version of which may
have been inspired by the rearing mount of Leonardo’s
leading Florentine cavalryman. Michelangelo overdrew
this sketch in order to convert it to a staggering, no doubt
wounded horse.
A page of sketches in the British Museum ( 1946 - 7 -
13 - 635 ; pen and ink, 172 × 252 mm; see Joannides 2002 b,
fig. 11 ), classed with the unmounted drawings attributed
to Raffaello da Montelupo, but in the compiler’s view
not by him, contains two outline sketches of cavalry-
men in action, which are similar to – but not copied
from – A, plus a fallen horse, which may well be devel-
oped from F 2 but which, once again, is not a copy of it.
It is likely that these drawings are same-size copies of lost
autograph sketches by Michelangelo, made at the same
time as those on the present sheet and in part developing
them. This hypothesis is supported by the fact that the
British Museum page also contains same-size copies of
the pen sketches of fighting men on a sheet by Michelan-
gelo in Haarlem (Teyler Museum A 28 verso/VT 31 /
Corpus 108 ; pen and ink and red chalk, 285 × 207 mm);
even though the date of this drawing is debated, it seems
likely to be from around the middle of the first decade.The compiler is inclined to think that the structural
pen study of a back, A, was made for the cavalryman D. If
so, although it shows the back from an angle that would
not be seen in the final image, it would demonstrate
Michelangelo’s concern to give his design full anatom-
ical accuracy. However, an alternative suggestion, made
to the compiler by W. Dreesmann (personal communica-
tion and with reference to the view of Hartt) is that the
study is connected with the leftmost nude figure in the
Bathersgroup, and the two are close enough to make
this plausible. Dr. Dreesmann further suggests that H was
also made with reference to this figure; as he notes, H
“displays the three peculiar rounded shapes for back mus-
cles, an indication of the triceps on the upper arm, and
the marked tip of the elbow. All...distinct features [that]
appear in the leftmost nude of the HolkhamCascina.” If
this interpretation is correct, then the fact that Michelan-
gelo made studies for this figure on the same page as
sketches for a cavalry clash may suggest that he thought
of the two as especially related. In the Holkham panel,
the leftmost figure turns his head towards his left: Perhaps
he was intended to be looking at a clash of cavalry in the
background.Drawn Copies
Dwas copied by Andrea Commodi c.15 8 0on both the
recto and the verso of Uffizi 18620 F, and F( 1 )was copied
on the recto.History
Casa Buonarroti by c. 15 8 0;Jean-Baptiste Wicar?;
William Young Ottley his sale?, 6 – 13 July 1807 , part
of lot37 6,“Two–afight of cavaliers, black chalk and
pen CAPITAL; and a group of five figures, half length,
pen and bistre, fine”? bought in ?; his sale, 6 June 1814 ,
etc., lot 1681 , “one – a man on horseback defending
himself – fine pen – intended perhaps for the cartoon of
Pisa; – another horse in black chalk – from the Buonar-
roti collection – most spirited”; Sir Thomas Lawrence
(L. 2445 ); Samuel Woodburn.References
Ottley (his sale?, 6 – 13 July 1807 , part of lot37 6 “a
fight of cavaliers, black chalk and pencapital.”). Ott-
ley, 1808 – 23 ,p. 27 n (“There exists no doubt in my
mind as to the introduction of these groups [of caval-
rymen] in the background; though I consider them to
have been represented at a great distance, and conse-
quently in figures of very small dimensions. I possess,
indeed, two slight pen sketches which I have always been
convinced were made by Michelangiolo for this part of
the work. The one represents a combat between two