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192 WHOLLY OR PARTIALLY AUTOGRAPH SHEETS CATALOGUE 35and Florence (Uffizi 608 Erecto/B 244 /Corpus 56 ; pen
and ink with brush and wash over black chalk, 290 × 361
mm) for the Julius Tomb.
An odd feature of the present drawing is that Samson’s
thigh is visible through Delilah’s leg. Whether this was
no more than carelessness on the part of an artist who
was rarely careless, or whether Michelangelo was play-
fully acknowledging the artificiality of his conception is
a matter for conjecture.
The drawing was presumably made c.153 0and cer-
tainly before 1532 since it was copied by Antonio Mini –
who left Forence late in 1531 –inatruncated sketch on
the verso of a drawing by Michelangelo at Windsor (see
discussion that follows). Indeed, it would be tempting to
think that the subject of the drawing, sensual indulgence
leading to loss of strength, might have been planned as a
warning to Mini, who was involved in an unhappy love
affair at about this time. However, had that been the case,
one would have expected the drawing to have been taken
byMini to France; there is no indication that he did so,
and the existence of sixteenth-century Italian copies after
the drawing counts against it.
Vasari records that the young Francesco Salviati, whilst
still in Florence, therefore before 1531 , painted aSam-
son and Delilahfor Francesco Sertini. Salviati’s painting is
lost or unidentified and since it is not described by Vasari,
there is no way of knowing whether it reflected Michelan-
gelo’s influence, but, in principle, this is not unlikely.
The subject is not common in this period, but it is
treated, realistically rather than symbolically, in a fine
drawing by Polidoro da Caravaggio (Paris, Louvre, Inv.
6093 ;red chalk, 120 × 176 mm), which must be roughly
contemporary with the present rendition.
The watermark found on the present sheet also occurs
on Cats. 30 and 42 ,asRobinson noted.Drawn Copies
1 .Royal Collection, Windsor Castle, PW 425 verso/
Corpus 236 bis; red chalk, 248 × 119 mm. This copy, no
doubt made from the original, and with virtual certainty
byAntonio Mini, was truncated when some previous
owner of the sheet cut it down to frame the recto draw-
ing, a fine study of a Grotesque Head.
2. London, British Museum, 1946 - 7 - 13 - 365 :W 90 ;red
chalk, outlines pricked, 275 × 383 mm. Early and prob-
ably made from the original and no doubt the basis for
further versions of the composition lost or unidentified.
Although the compiler would not feel confident in giving
this drawing to Salviati, such an attribution would not be
impossible.3 .Paris, Musee du Louvre, Inv. ́ 354 33/J 105 ; pen and ink
with brown wash, 274 ×38 9mm. Attributed by C. Mon-
beig Goguel to Marco Marchetti da Faenza. Marco treats
the present drawing simply as an image and makes no
effort to evoke modelling or texture. But he may very
well have worked directly from Michelangelo’s original
since his version is identical in size, and he first drew
Delilah’s right foot placed on Samson’s thigh, as in the
original, and then cancelled it.
4. Oxford, Christ Church, 0086 /JBS S15 2 8,asafter
Baccio Bandinelli (?); pen and ink, 190 × 289 mm. This
is not a copy of the Ashmolean drawing but is sufficiently
close to it to warrant citing here. Byam Shaw is no doubt
correct to place it in Bandinelli’s circle.History
Casa Buonarroti; Jean-Baptiste Wicar; Samuel Wood-
burn; Sir Thomas Lawrence (L. 2445 ); Samuel Wood-
burn.References
Lawrence Inventory, 1830 ,M.A.Buonaroti Case 3 ,
Drawer 3 ,no. 24 [ 1830 - 26 i] (Samson and Delilah,inred
chalk. “A most splendid drawing.”). Woodburn,184 2,
no. 31 (“[A] superb drawing.”). Woodburn,184 6,no. 27
(As184 2.). Fisher,186 2,p. 4 , pl. 10 (“[A] superb draw-
ing,151 0–151 2.”). Fisher, 1865 , II, p. 23 , pl. 10 (As186 2.).
Robinson,187 0,no. 55 (“[B]readth and gradation of light
and shade which recalls the style of Correggio. The design
appears to be essentially pictorial.” Windsor fragmentary
copy mentioned.). Fisher,187 2, II, p. 21 , pl. 10 (As186 2.).
Black, 1875 ,p. 214 ,no. 50. Gotti, 1875 , II, p. 221. Fisher,
187 9, XXXVII/ 39 (“Probably produced between153 0
and15 4 0.”). Portheim,188 9,p. 148 (“Falsch”; reminis-
cent of Correggio.). Berenson, 1903 ,I,p. 254 (More like
Mini than Montelupo.); no. 1718 (Perhaps Raffaello da
Montelupo “after some slight sketch” by Michelangelo.).
Thode, 1908 , II, p. 445 (Berenson’s attribution not to be
excluded, but the design is by Michelangelo; contempo-
rary with hisVenus and Cupid, late15 2 0s–early153 0s.).
Thode, 1913 ,no.( 434 ) (As 1908 .). Popham, 1935 b, p. 65
(“[T]he workmanship does not appear to be his.”). Beren-
son, 1938 ,I,p. 256 ,no. 1718 (If by Mini, late.). Wilde,
1949 ,p. 250 (Style corresponds to that ofLabours of Her-
cules[Windsor, PW 423 ]; truncated copy of Samson at
Windsor [PW 425 verso] perhaps by Mini.). Goldscheider,
1951 ,no. 67 (153 0.“This composition was the immediate
source of...aVenus and Cupid.” “Partial copy at Windsor
byAntonio Mini.”). Wilde, 1953 a,p. 125 (c.15 2 8– 30 ,of
the type of his presentation sheets.). Wilde, 1953 exh.,
no. 97 .Parker, 1956 ,no.31 9 (Michelangelo, c.153 0.