The Drawings of Michelangelo and His Followers in the Ashmolean Museum

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336 STUDIO DRAWINGS AND DRAWINGS OF UNDETERMINED STATUS CATALOGUES 79–80

G.The arrangement of scrolls and consoles seen in pro-

file, on a slightly smaller scale and with modifications.

Verso

Parker refers to slight black chalk studies on the verso,

faint traces of which are visible on the old photograph

taken of this side before it was laid down.

Discussion

Even though these drawings are probably not derived

from specific projects by Michelangelo, they strongly

reflect his influence both in the architectural and the fig-

ure design. The female torso shows awareness of the New

SacristyDawn, and the studies for a fireplace obviously

employ motifs familiar from Michelangelo’s architectural

and decorative work of the15 2 0s.

Berenson suggested that the fireplace might be con-

nected with designs by Raffaello da Montelupo for

the Castel Sant’Angelo, in which, according to Vasari,

“seguito assai la maniera di Michelagnolo, come ne fanno`

fede i camini, le porte e le finestre che egli fece in detto

Castello.”

Two other sheets of drawings by Raffaello da Mon-

telupo contain studies that are probably connected with

this fireplace:

1. London, British Museum, 1946 - 7 - 13 - 36 ;pen and ink,

204 × 256 mm. (This sheet also contains a figure studyen-

suitewith one on the recto of Cat. 76 .)

2. Oslo, Nasjionalgalleriet B 15252 ; pen and ink,

231 × 207 mm.

History

Jean-Baptiste Wicar; Samuel Woodburn; Sir Thomas

Lawrence (L. 2445 ); Samuel Woodburn.

References

Woodburn, 184 2,no. 76 (“Study architectural with

female head.”). Woodburn,184 6,no. 10 (As 184 2.).

Robinson,187 0,no. 54 (Michel Angelo; probably con-

temporary with work on the Medici Tombs.). Black,

1875 ,p. 214 ,no. 49 .Gotti, 1875 , II, p. 232. Berenson,

1903 ,I,pp. 255 , 257 ,no. 1717 (Montelupo, perhaps for

a chimney-piece in Castel Sant’Angelo of which Vasari

makes special mention. B a sister to female figure on

Uffizi 1231 E.). Berenson, 1938 ,I,p. 257 ,no. 1717 (As

1903 .)Parker, 1956 ,no. 411 (Montelupo.). Berenson,

1961 ,no. 1717 (As 1903 , 1938 .).

CATALOGUE 80

raffaello da montelupo (c. 1505–1566)

Recto: The Infant Hercules Strangling Serpents in His

Cradle

Ve r so: Various Calculations (on the secondary support)

1953. 138 ;P.II 413

Dimensions: 192 × 225 mm

Watermark: Indecipherable.

Medium

Recto: Black chalk.

Ve r so: Pen and ink.

Condition

Single-sided solid museum mount with small cut-out on

versotoexpose calculations on the secondary support.

There is overall patchy discolouration and a horizontal

stain across the centre of the sheet.

Numbering

In an old hand, in chalk, at lower right:No 2.

Discussion

Raffaello shows the infant Hercules in his cradle, stran-

gling the two serpents sent by Juno to kill him. His nurse

lies sleeping immediately to the right of the cradle, and a

startled female servant witnesses the scene from the right

edge.

The compiler can see no immediate relation to

Michelangelo, but that the subject was current in his cir-

cle in this period is indicated by a drawing in the Louvre,

which seems to be a work of c.153 0sbyAntonio Mini

(Inv. 35296 /J 53 ;red chalk, 285 × 172 mm). The subject

was also treated in an engraving dated 1533 byAgostino

Veneziano (seeThe Illustrated Bartsch,vol. 26 ,no. 315 ).

This drawing may well have been made to prepare a

composition inrilievo schiaciato.There is some influence

from Rosso in the angularity of the forms and the flat-

tened planes, and the handling of chalk is loosely remi-

niscent of some of Bandinelli’s drawings.

The provenance post-Daulby is that given by Parker.

The compiler has been unable to trace a Vernon sale in

1799.

History

Giorgio Vasari (traces of his mount); Jonathan Richardson

Senior (L. 2184 ; his mount with his inscription, Pellegrino