The Drawings of Michelangelo and His Followers in the Ashmolean Museum

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THE DISPERSAL AND FORMATION OF SIR THOMAS LAWRENCE’S COLLECTION OF DRAWINGS 37

Wilde to “about 1600 or later”). Thus, to summarise the situa-
tion, we have four sheets of copies, reasonably attributable to the
same hand, of six sheets of drawings by Michelangelo made in part
for the Sistine ceiling, five of which have no recorded connection
with Casa Buonarroti. This would suggest – but not, of course,
prove – that c. 1600 the copyist had access to all six Michelangelo
sheets at the same time and, presumably, in the same collection, and
that while one of these autograph sheets (theHamanstudy) sub-
sequently entered Casa Buonarroti, the others (four of which bear
either theBona Rotiinscription, an Irregular Number, or both –
the Rotterdam sheet has been severely trimmed, and no inscrip-
tion now survives on it; see later in this chapter for discussion
of these inscriptions) arrived at their present locations by other
routes.
114. Sebregondi Fiorentini, 1986 , and Morrogh, 1992 ,recog-
nised that this group of copies, classed in the Uffizi under the
name of his friend Ludovico Cigoli, came from an album of
drawings by Francesco Buonarroti. The drawings were obviously
made for the draughtsman’s own reference, not with archaeological
intent.
115. Francesco’s copies are all in black chalk and are made on
one side only of sheets of paper measuring approximately 285 ×
415 mm, folded down the centre with each side used individually.
They are capricious in their juxtaposition of designs from different
periods of Michelangelo’s architectural activity, and even though
they include some same-size copies, they can vary, without apparent
reason, from inflated to diminished. It is, of course, only assump-
tion that the drawings for which no source can be identified depend
from originals by Michelangelo, but, failing evidence to the con-
trary, it may serve as a working hypothesis. The compiler has iden-
tified ten sheets of such copies, as follows (the lettering starts from
the upper left and moves down, and then up). Unless otherwise
indicated (>=right edge as base;<=left edge as base;∧=top
edge as base), the sketches are arranged with the lower edge of the
sheet as base:

1 .5348A
Left side
a. Inaccurate sketch after CB 96 Averso/B 79 /Corpus 551.
b. Loose sketch after BM W 37 recto/Corpus 554.
c. Loose sketch after BM W 37 verso/Corpus 554.
d.>Simplified copy of upper part of Cat. 55 /P.II, 307 /Corpus
605.
Right side
a. After CB 97 Averso/B 167 /Corpus 616 ,lowerright.
b. After CB 96 Arecto/B 79 /Corpus 551.
c. A loose sketch after the Campidoglio tabernacle design CB 97 A
recto/B 167 /Corpus 616.
2 .5350A
Left side
a. Small sketch of Cat. 54 recto/P.II, 333 /Corpus 589.
b. A tabernacle with triangular pediment containing a symbolic?
sarcophagus: source unidentified. The original, if by Michelangelo,
probably datable c.15 2 0.
c. With the right edge as base. Abbreviated copy of the sarcophagus
on CB 103 A/B 264 recto/Corpus 613.
Right side
a. Large sketch of a door or tabernacle flanked by fluted pilasters
or columns, probably after a lost original of the mid–late151 0s.

3 .5352A
Left side
a. Upper central section of Michelangelo’smodellofor the Mag-
nifici Tomb (see Cat. 63 for discussion). No example of this much
reproduced design is now to be found in Casa Buonarroti, and it
is conjectural after which version this copy was made.
Right side
a. Partial same-size copy after Michelangelo’s drawing for the Mag-
nifici Tomb, British Museum, W 26 recto/Corpus18 0.
b. A sarcophagus from Michelangelo’smodellofor the Magnifici
Tomb (see left side, a).
4 .5355A
Left side
a. After the study for the Porta Pia, CB 73 Abis verso/B 164 /Corpus
615.
Right side
a. After the sketch for the Magnifici Tomb, BM W 26 recto/Corpus
18 0.
b. After the sketch for the Magnifici Tomb, BM W 26 recto/Corpus
18 0.
c.>After the sketch for a single tomb, BM W 26 verso/Corpus
18 0.
5 .5358A(reproduced by Morrogh, 1992 , fig. 11 )
Left side
a. Afree-standing monumental altar. Source unidentified; the lost
original, no doubt by Michelangelo, is probably datable c.15 2 0
(Morrogh interpreted this drawing as a study for a free-standing
Medici tomb, but the compiler thinks it is for a monumental altar).
Right side
a. A pedimented horizontally oriented window. Source unknown,
the original probably datable c.15 6 0.
b. Ablind window for the Porta Pia, after CB 106 Averso/B 169 /
Corpus 619 , upper drawing.
c. Ablind window for the Porta Pia, after CB 106 Averso/B 169 /
Corpus 619 ,lower drawing.
6 .5390A
Left side
a. Loose variants of the three drawings for a lavabo, CB 73 Averso/
B 97 /Corpus 274 ,re-arranged.
Right side
a. Slightly enlarged copy of niched tabernacle, CB 112 Averso/
B 100 /Corpus 197.
7 .5394A
Left side
a.>Laterally compressed copy of the ciborium? CB 40 Arecto/
B 98 /Corpus 177.
b.>Same size copy of Cat. 21 (d)/P.II, 307 /Corpus 187.
Right side
a.>Slightly enlarged copy of throne design, CB 72 Arecto/B 63 /
Corpus 199.
b.>A complex wall or ?fountain design articulated with ?female
herms; source unidentified. Michelangelo’s authorship of the orig-
inal is conjectural, but if by him, it is probably datable c. 1516 .A
page that contains an early drawing for the San Lorenzo fac ̧ade
(CB 44 Averso/B 43 /Corpus 498 ) includes a similar herm, and this
may not, as is usually thought, be related to the Julius Tomb.
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