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0521551331 c 01 -p 2 CUNY 160 /Joannides 052155 133 1 January 11 , 2007 10 : 5
170 WHOLLY OR PARTIALLY AUTOGRAPH SHEETS CATALOGUE 30to enliven his teaching and spark his young pupils. This
sheet is closely connected with two others:1. London British Museum, W 33 /Corpus 236 ;redand
black chalk, 255 ×35 0mm.
2. Frankfurt, Staedelsches Kunstinstitut, Inv. 392 /Corpus
322 ;red chalk, 260 × 410 mm.All three sheets, which share a provenance from Casa
Buonarroti, contain sketches by Michelangelo, his pupil
Antonio Mini, and probably a second pupil, Andrea
Quaratesi: Parker shrewdly and, in the compiler’s view,
correctly, distinguished two hands among the pupil draw-
ings on the present sheet. The British Museum sheet bears
on its recto three autograph studies of grotesque heads,
which were developed further by a pupil and Michelan-
gelo working together on the recto of the Frankfurt sheet.
The verso of the latter contains another version of the left
leg found on the recto of the present drawing, and it also
carries in red chalk at the upper right the roman number
XVII, which corresponds to numbering found on several
drawings in Casa Buonarroti and on Cat. 56.
The most significant autograph drawings on the
present sheet are the two studies for aHercules and Antaeus
group. The British Museum sheet carries a single study
about the same size as the smaller of the two on the present
sheet, but somewhat less developed, in which Antaeus is
seen from the rear. These drawings relate to a project very
close to Michelangelo’s heart.
Soon after Michelangelo had completed theDavid
for the Florentine Republic in15 0 4, the idea arose of
carving another statue to pair with it. By late15 0 6,
a large block had been excavated in Carrara and was
reserved for the Republic. Owing to Michelangelo’s pro-
tracted absences in Bologna and Rome between15 0 6
and151 2, nothing was then done, and with the return
of the Medici to Florence in151 2, and the consequent
exile of Piero Soderini, the project lapsed. Although
the evidence is not quite conclusive – the subject is
not mentioned in the contemporary correspondence –
it is virtually certain that Michelangelo initially planned
to carve aHercules and Antaeus.Versions of the subject
had been executed in bronze in the quattrocento, most
notably by Antonio Pollaiuolo, but to execute an over-
life-size group in marble would have been a triumphant
demonstration of sculpturalvirtu`. One fragmentary auto-
graph drawing survives ofHercules and Antaeus(Wash-
ington, National Gallery of Art, O’Neal Collection,
1991 .15 0. 3 ; pen and ink, 79 × 36 mm) datable about15 0 5;
and the Louvre possesses a page of copies (Inv. 863 /J 68 ;
pen and ink, 201 × 137 mm) after lost pen sketches ofthe subject by Michelangelo, probably executed by him
c.15 0 8.
It may be that Leo X considered commissioning a
statue or group representing Hercules shortly after he
ascended the papal throne in 1513 , perhaps aHercules and
Cacus. Indeed, Vasari ascribes the project to Leo, either
deliberately suppressing, or unaware of, Soderini’s role.
Nothing seems to have come of this scheme, although
a large plasterHercules, standing with a shouldered club,
modelled by Baccio Bandinelli was erected in the Loggia
dei Lanzi in 1515 as part of Leo X’s celebratory entry into
Florence. The project for a two-figure marble group was
revived only in15 2 4after Leo’s cousin Clement VII had
in his turn been elevated to the papal throne. Although
heavily occupied with the New Sacristy, Michelangelo
was eager for the commission and tried hard to recover
the block, certainly identical with that reserved for him
by Soderini. At this time, Michelangelo planned to
carve aHercules and Antaeus: This is reported by Vasari
and confirmed by the contemporary chronicler Gio-
vanni Cambi who speaks of “un Ercole che scopiassi
Anteo gigante.” This is the subject of the present sheet
of drawings and that in the British Museum. Both are
datable to15 2 4– 5.
Michelangelo undoubtedly made further drawings of
the subject. The sale of the collection of Pierre Crozat
in 1741 included among the twenty drawings attributed
to Michelangelo contained in lot 21 aHercule ́etouffant
Ant ́ee: Its specific mention in a catalogue in which most of
Michelangelo’s drawings were undescribed suggests that
it was an impressive sheet. This drawing was probably
acquired by Pierre-Jean Mariette and is no doubt iden-
tical with that which appeared in the sale of Julien de
Parme (who had bought heavily at the Mariette sale of
1775 – 6 ), Paris, 21 – 22 February 1794 ,aspartoflot 12 :
Quatre Dessins & Etudes, dont Hercule qui ́etouffe Anth ́ee,
dessin ́ees au crayon rouge.Asfar as the compiler is aware, this
drawing has not re-appeared, but assuming the attribution
to be correct, it is likely that this was a more developed
treatment of the project, again drawn in15 2 4– 5.
Michelangelo also made a plastic model of the subject.
According to Vasari, he gave to Leone Leoni, in appre-
ciation of his medallic portrait struck by Leoni in15 6 0,a
wax model ofHercules Crushing Antaeus, and although in
principle this could have been unrelated, it is likely that
this too was made for the revived project.
Other drawings are sometimes connected with this
project. There is a beautiful red chalk drawing ofTw o
Men Wrestlingin the Louvre (Inv. 709 recto/J 30 /Corpus
267 ;red chalk, 237 × 195 mm), but it is doubtful whether
this was made for theHercules and Antaeusgroup. An