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0521551335 c 07 CUNY 160 /Joannides 052155 133 1 January 11 , 2007 13 : 37
394 MISCELLANEOUS CATALOGUE 114H.Aright hand, lit from the left.
I. H, on a larger scale, lit from the left.
Third line
J. H, revised, lit from the left.
K.H, now shown holding an apple, lit from the left.
Verso(in the opposite sense from the recto)
A.The torso of a male nude seen from the rear, three-
quarters left.
B.Aright hand, bent at the wrist, seen from the left.
C.Aversion of B, on a larger scale.
D.Aversion of B, more loosely drawn.Discussion
The studies on the recto were presumably made for a
seated Adam in a composition of theFall of Man,asK
clearly indicates. However, because this subject is not
recorded in painted or graphic form by Passerotti, either
it was not taken further or the final work has been
lost.
The hand studies on the verso display more tension and
suggest a different pose and a different subject. Sleeves are
clearly indicated on all three studies, and these would
not, of course, be appropriate toThe Fall.Asnoted by
Hoper, hand studies of similar type are to be found in ̈
Dusseldorf (Museum Kunstpalast, FP ̈ 9445 ; pen and ink,
354 × 257 mm), Milan (Ambrosiana, F 265 Inf 67 ; pen and
ink, 400 × 276 mm), Munich (Graphische Sammlung,
Inv. 13. 731 ; pen and ink,37 0× 214 mm), and Vienna
(Albertina, 2029 ; pen and ink, 388 × 270 mm) among
other collections. All these are broadly comparable in size
with the present sheet. It was remarked by Titus, 1975 ,
that the source of the hand is a plastic model, of which a
version is preserved in the Victoria and Albert Museum
(Pope-Hennessy, 1964 , II, no. 461 ).
As Hoper further notes, the study of a back, A, is closely ̈
comparable in its pen-work with a page of figure draw-
ings in the Victoria and Albert Museum (Dyce15 9/Ward-
Jackson 242 ; pen and ink, 419 × 260 mm). The figure of
which this is a detail, no doubt a model in wax or clay,
seems to have been of particular interest to Passerotti. It
was also represented by him at full-length in a drawing
offered at Christie’s, London, 11 July 2002 , lot 6 (pen and
ink, 440 × 200 mm) and on both sides of a sheet in the
Szepm ́ uv ̈ ́eszeti Muzeum, Budapest, Inv. ̈ 1907 (pen and
ink, 416 × 216 mm). The Budapest sheet was attributed
to theequipe of Bertoja and Mirola by De Grazia, ́ 1991 ,
D/ 2 ,but on balance Passerotti seems to the compiler to
be more likely. De Grazia notes the similarity of this fig-
ure to Michelangelo’s marbleDavid, and it is not to be
excluded that these drawings do indeed record a modelbyMichelangelo that enjoyed great longevity as a studio
prop. An example can be seen at the lower left in thePor-
trait of an Artistfrom the circle of G ́ericault in the Mus ́ee
du Louvre, RF 1225.
It was suggested by Parker, followed by Dussler and
others, that this drawing was created by Passerotti in
a deliberate attempt to deceive. The compiler finds
this implausible. The drawing diverges in no way from
Passerotti’s distinctive style. Had Passerotti wished to fake
a drawing by Michelangelo, he would surely have imitated
a drawing by the master that he knew, and no surviving
drawing by Michelangelo resembles this, in pen-work,
layout, or the structures of the forms depicted. To the
compiler, the initials on the recto seem clearly a later
addition, designed to enhance the sheet’s value, and he
sees no justification for the view that they are executed
in the same ink and by the same hand as the drawing.
If the provenance from Sir Peter Lely proposed below
is correct, it must be assumed that his stamp was lost from
the present verso of the sheet between 1807 and 1836
and that the Casa Buonarroti-Wicar provenance given by
Woodburn in 1836 , modified to Wicar alone in184 2,was
an error.History
Casa Buonarroti; Jean-Baptiste Wicar (this provenance
first given by Woodburn in 1836 ,isprobably incorrect;
Casa Buonarroti is omitted in184 2- 85 ); more probable
is Sir Peter Lely; William Young Ottley (his sale of July
1807 , lot 374 , “One – a study of three hands – masterly
fine pen – PL”); Sir Thomas Lawrence (L. 2445 ); Samuel
Woodburn.References
William Young Ottley? (his sale of July 1807 , lot 374 ,
“One – a study of three hands – masterly fine pen – PL.”).
Woodburn, 1836 b,no. 10 (A Study of Three Hands –
and the back of a male figure. This noble drawing is exe-
cuted with the pen with the utmost skill and knowledge;
it far exceeds the very celebrated drawing of a similar
subject mentioned by Vasari which is now in the Louvre
[Inv. 717 /J R 2 /Corpus 93 ]. On the reverse side, are other
models for the same hand, on a smaller scale, but equally
fine. Capital. Size, 1614 inches by 1012 iches. From the Col-
lections of M. Buonarroti, and the Chevalier Wicar.”).
The Court Journal, 23 July 1836 (“[F]ull of life and motion
suspended.”). Woodburn,184 2,no. 85 (“A sheet of stud-
ies of hands – also the body of a man; powerfully drawn,
bistre pen. Size, 1612 inches by 1138 inches. From the Col-
lection of the Chevalier Wicar.”). Woodburn, 1853 ,no 26
(Verso reproduced.). Fisher186 2,p. 4 , pl. 14 (Recto only: