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0521551331 c 01 CUNY 160 /Joannides 052155 133 1 January 10 , 2007 22 : 22
86 WHOLLY OR PARTIALLY AUTOGRAPH SHEETS CATALOGUE 7The recto, the original verso, of the present sheet is one
of the four surviving developed figure studies in pen that
Michelangelo certainly made for figures in theCascina;
the three others are: Louvre Inv. 712 recto/J 7 /Corpus
42 ; pen and ink over black chalk, 248 × 95 mm; BM W 6
recto/Corpus 52 ; pen and ink with white heightening
overblack chalk, 420 × 285 mm; and Albertina BK 123
recto/Corpus 53 ; pen and ink over black chalk, 266 ×
194 mm. These three are all studies for foreground or
pivotal figures in the central group of theBathersas it is
known from the fullest and what seems to be the most
accurate surviving copy, that by Aristotile da Sangallo at
Holkham Hall. The other surviving figure drawings that
may certainly be connected with the scheme are in chalk.
This could be merely accident of survival, but it may be
that Michelangelo executed in pen those figures where
an emphatic plasticity was most necessary. Among the
developed figure-studies in pen, only the present one is
not found in the scheme as we know it, but the infer-
ence would be that this group, too, of a cavalryman being
assisted to mount, was part of, or near to, the foreground,
and it suggests that the composition was more elaborately
worked out to the left and the right of the centralBathers
group than is sometimes supposed. Indeed, the present
study provides the best evidence for this, given that the
other drawings associable with subsidiary parts ofCascina
are sketchier.
Both CB 9 F and the drawing on the recto of the present
sheet concentrate on the back of the torso of the assisting
figure, the former establishing the underlying structure
and the latter, the surface modulations. The pose shows
knowledge of some version of the antiqueDiscobolusand
demonstrates Michelangelo’s alternation between study
of the antique and of life. Whether there is a direct con-
nection can only be conjectural, but the recto drawing
and CB 9 F bear a strong resemblance to the torso of the
murderer in Titian’s destroyedAssassination of Saint Peter
Martyr,apainting in which St. Peter’s fleeing companion
is derived from Michelangelo’s SistineHaman. Titian was
certainly aware of at least one drawing by Michelangelo,
and he might well have known others, in the original or
in copy.Drawn Copies
A copy of the verso was made by Sir Edward Burne-
Jones in186 6- 7 ,onfol. 39 recto of his sketchbook in the
Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, 1070 - 2.History
That given by Woodburn and following him, Robin-
son and Parker includes Sir Peter Lely which, while not
impossible is unlikely. His stamp is not to be found on thedrawing. The inscription at the upper left of the verso is
very similar to that on the upper left of the verso of a draw-
ing in the Louvre, Inv. 706 /J 1 /Corpus 3 , once thought to
be that of P. Le Tessier de Montarsy, whose collection was
dispersed in 1712 ,but which, it now appears, was made by
an unidentified French collector of, no doubt, a some-
what earlier date. If so, this would have given William
Gibson, whose annotation and pricing code are found at
the upper right of the verso, the opportunity to acquire
it. Gibson’s inscription is on a made-up section of the
sheet; consequently, it must have been repaired – either by
himself or a previous owner – before he inscribed it. The
sheet’s provenance after Gibson is derived from Robin-
son and is presumably correct, but it should be noted that
Richardson’s stamp cannot now be found, which would
suggest either that the drawing has been trimmed or that
the stamp was placed on a now-lost mount: Jonathan
Richardson Senior; Benjamin West (L. 419 ); Sir Thomas
Lawrence (L. 2445 ); Samuel Woodburn.References
Lawrence Inventory, 1830 M. A. Buonaroti Case 3 ,
Drawer 3 [ 1830 - 98 ] (“Study on [sic of ?] the back of a
Figure, on the reverse is the same in small, with more
of the Composition.”). Woodburn,184 2,no. 5 (Prove-
nance includes Sir Peter Lely.). Robinson,187 0,no. 19
(Michel Angelo. “Exact resemblance in style to” British
Museum W 3 /Corpus 36 .Isa“study from nature for the
horse in this very composition. The group is obviously
one of those prepared for, and in all probability actually
introduced into, the background of the Cartoon: it rep-
resents a man-at-arms, assisted by his groom or esquire,
hurridly mounting his horse, naked as he had rushed out
of the river, and hastening to repel the sudden onslaught
of thePisan forces.” ForCascina; linked with “the smaller
and still more rudimentary sketch of fighting soldiers on”
[Cat. 4 ].). Black, 1875 ,p. 213 ,no. 19. Gotti, 1875 ,II,
p. 234. Berenson, 1903 ,I,p. 178 ,no.155 9 (Probably
forCascina. Recto: “rough and spirited.” Verso: “one
of Michelangelo’s best pen sketches.”). Colvin, 1906 ,V,
nos. 9 A, 9 B(Ve rso and recto: for background ofCascina.).
Kohler, ̈ 1907 ,pp. 142 – 3 (Sketch for one of the back-
ground groups; provides stylistic support for the ascription
to Michelangelo of Uffizi 613 E/B 4 /Corpus 45 .). Thode,
1908 ,I,p. 101 (ForCascina.). K. Frey, 1909 – 11 ,no. 202
(Recto: study for the verso figure; influence of Roman
marbles. Overworked by a later hand in black chalk.);
no. 201 a(Verso: forCascina.). Thode, 1913 ,no. 403 (As
1908 ;sketch for CB 9 Fverso/B 5 /Corpus 40 .). Panofsky,
1922 ,p. 8 (15 0 4– 5 , studies for background episodes in
Cascina.Verso: the pose indebted to Myron’sDiscobolus,
known c.15 0 0.Recto:moves away from antique under