The Drawings of Michelangelo and His Followers in the Ashmolean Museum

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186 WHOLLY OR PARTIALLY AUTOGRAPH SHEETS CATALOGUE 34

the episode of the serpents’ attack in two drawings, about

contemporary with the present one, now in Dusseldorf ̈

(see discussion that follows). The subject was also treated

byAntonio Mini (Uffizi187 21Frecto/B 175 /Corpus 149

and CB 37 F/B 170 , both probably after lost drawings

byMichelangelo) and by direct followers of Michelan-

gelo working in his manner, as in a drawing in the

Mus ́ee des Beaux-Arts, Lyon (Inv. 1971 - 115 ) attributed

to Clovio (see Costamagna, 1992 ,p. 171 ). The subject

wasobviously ideal for Michelangelo, with figures strug-

gling against bonds, like the Slaves. The present page also

gave him the opportunity to revive ideas tried in stud-

ies forCascinaand associated projects around15 0 5. The

man running forward in the upper group reprises the

running figure from the combat between infantry and

cavalry, Cat. 5 , and the man supported by two others

in the lower group develops a trio treated in somewhat

different form in drawings in the British Museum (W 5

recto/Corpus 46 ;black chalk, 315 × 278 mm) and the

Louvre (Inv. 718 recto/J 9 /Corpus 47 ;black chalk over

stylus indentation, 334 × 174 mm). At least one of these

figures is anticipatory: The small figure seen from the back