P 1 : KsF
0521551331 c 01 b CUNY 160 /Joannides 052155 133 1 January 11 , 2007 6 : 36
146 WHOLLY OR PARTIALLY AUTOGRAPH SHEETS CATALOGUE 24Condition
The sheet is cut vertically down the centre with exten-
sive repairs, several punctures, an irregular edge-cut, a
number of handling creases, and local cockling. There
are major edge and corner infills, extensive skinning, and
numerous fractures and tears, some repaired. There is
considerable discolouration and staining from bleeding
of the ink, with show-through. The sheet is generally
discoloured.Inscriptions
Recto: Upper left: effaced inscription in black chalk:
B...?
Lower centre: mutilated inscription in pen, read by Parker
asB...rotibut unclear to the compiler.
Lower right: Robinson’s numbering in graphite: 2.Ve r so: A large number 69 in black chalk at the lower
centre; this does not correspond to anything in the known
history of this sheet.Discussion
Recto
Like Cat. 33 this sheet of drawings was dated to c.15 0 0
byde Tolnay, and, once again, although this is not con-
vincing, it does indicate retrospection on Michelangelo’s
part. Indeed, the recto head has sometimes been consid-
ered to be a copy after a quattrocento fresco, perhaps by
an artist such as Castagno, and even though no precise
source has been found, this possibility cannot be ruled
out. Michelangelo certainly encouraged Antonio Mini
to follow a course of training similar to his own, copying
the old masters, and he may have returned to his own ear-
lier practices here as an example to his pupil. It could, in
principle, reflect a quattrocento portrait but, on balance,
it seems more likely to be an invention “in the manner
of ” than a copy.
It is worth recalling in connection with this drawing,
as with Cats. 22 and 33 , that Michelangelo distinguished
among the high, medium, and low styles, and that his
drawings, and their actors, show his capacity for repre-
senting the low. In a letter of June15 2 0to Cardinal Bib-
biena, he employed the simile of the pleasure of coarse
food after a surfeit of refinement. When a head such as the
present one is compared with Cat. 31 , one can appreciate
the contrast.
The swivelled eyes are seen frequently in the Ancestors
of Christ. The early identification of this head as that of
Bartolommeo Colleoni is implausible – it bears no rela-
tion to the head of Colleoni in Verrocchio’s equestrianstatue – but it does indicate that at least some of Michelan-
gelo’s “ideal” heads were thought to be of specific individ-
uals. The suggestion of Colleoni may be an unconscious
acknowledgement of the place of such a drawing in the
tradition of Leonardo and his master Verrocchio.Verso
The draped figures cannot be connected with a spe-
cific project, but they are close in form to some of the
bystanders at the upper left of the composition of theMar-
tyrdom of Saint Lawrence, designed by Baccio Bandinelli
around 1525 in preparation for a fresco to be executed on
one of the side walls of the choir of San Lorenzo (fac-
ing another representing theMartyrdom of Saints Cosmas
and Damian, for which no drawings have been identified)
butnever executed and known in an engraving by Mar-
cantono Raimondi. Perhaps this drawing was given or
shown to Bandinelli by Michelangelo whilst they were
still friendly.
Some previous owner cut the sheet to obtain two sep-
arate figure studies from the verso, but, happily, seems to
have repented of this vandalism and rejoined it.Drawn Copies
1. Dresden, Kupferstich-Kabinett, Inv. no. C 54 ; pen and
ink, 300 × 215 mm. A same-size copy of the verso, made
before the sheet was cut down, probably within the six-
teenth century. From the collections of Sir Peter Lely
(L. 2092 ), Nathaniel Hone (L. 2793 ), Sir Joshua Reynolds
(L. 2364 ), and Sir Thomas Lawrence (L. 2445 ). Lawrence’s
ownership of this copy was established by Prof. Dr. Wolf-
gang Holler, who also provided the information that it
was acquired by Dresden at or after the Woodburn sale
of186 0.Itcannot be identified in the sale and was pre-
sumably included in one of the multiple lots.
2. Haarlem, Teyler Museum A∗ 11 /VT 78 ; pen and ink
over traces of black chalk, 293 × 214 mm, the upper cor-
ners chamfered. A same-size copy of the verso, made
before the sheet was cut down. The inscription on this
copy indicates that it was owned by theBona RotiCol-
lector, and that, therefore, it must be of the sixteenth
century.Engraved Copies
Recto
1. Windsor, Royal Library, Inv. 809565 , the recto
engraved in reverse by an unidentified engraver G.D.,
190 ×15 6 mm. Inscribed:Bartolomei Coleoni effigieis `a
M. Ang. Bonaroto delineata. GD ead ̃e lineam ̃eta secutus inc.
1610 .Inhis discussion of this rare print, known to him
in only one other example, Griffiths, 1993 ,no. 162 ,