P 1 : KsF
0521551331 c 01 -p 2 CUNY 160 /Joannides 052155 133 1 January 11 , 2007 10 : 5
210 WHOLLY OR PARTIALLY AUTOGRAPH SHEETS CATALOGUES 40–41re-working especially in the centre. Link with Albertina
BK 102 /Corpus 269 dated late.). Hirst, 1988 ,p. 7 (Late
use of red chalk.). Hirst, 1994 – 5 ,p. 139 ,no. 26 (After
155 0.). Nagel, 1996 ,pp. 565 – 6 (“[T]he different parts of
the sheet were done not only in two different techniques
butattwodifferent times. The hypothesis that the sheet
is a palimpsest helps to resolve some of the confusion
over the dating.” The drawing begun c.153 0– 4 ; the
central three figures in the style of the Pauline Chapel
figures added in the15 4 0s.). Paoletti, 2000 ,p. 77 (“[T]he
somewhat satiric features of the turbaned male” resemble
Michelangelo’s. Notes similarity of head-covering to
that of the Louvre portrait drawing of Michelangelo,
Inv. 2715 /J R 27 [see Cat. 107 ].). Nagel, 2000 ,pp. 204 – 5
(As 1996 .). Joannides, 2002 – 3 b,p. 321 , under no. 187
(Nagel’s hypothesis of execution at two different periods
not supported by the physical evidence.).CATALOGUE 41Recto: Studies of a Left Leg, a Steeply Raised Right Arm,
and a Raised Right Elbow
Ve r so: Two Studies of a Raised Right Arm
184 6. 75 ;R. 67 ;P.II 329 ; Corpus36 2
Dimensions: 240 × 145 mmMedium
Black chalk.Condition
There are major repairs to edge tears, major and minor
losses infilled, edges skinned, and some abrasion. There
is discolouration and local staining from the medium and
adhesive.
Description
Recto
A.The bent legs of a nude figure, perhaps kneeling; the
knee of the right leg is only briefly indicated.
B.A raised right arm and hand.
C.It is disputed whether this drawing should be read in
the same sense as the others or with the right edge as the
base.
i. In the first case (that sustained by the compiler), it
would seem to represent a very powerful right bicep,
elbow and upper forearm, bent at a right angle.
ii. In the second case (suggested by W. Dreesmann), it
would show part of the left thigh, the knee, and part
of the upper calf of a seated nude figure.Verso
A.Upper drawing: a raised right arm, seen from the front.
B.Lower drawing: a left arm bent across the body, with
the hand raised.An alternative view (found in Dussler, no. 629 and de
Tolnay, Corpus36 2) that the page should be read with
the Oxford stamp in the upper left corner and that the
drawings represent a lowered left arm, seems to the com-
piler to be less likely, and it is countered by the direction
of the hatching.Discussion
The sketches of a raised right arm and a right elbow
on the recto were probably made, as most scholars have
accepted, for the right arm of Christ in theLast Judgement.
His gesture is the focal point of the whole composition,
and it obviously preoccupied Michelangelo: Even when it
had been painted, he revised it, enlarging the dimensions
of the upper arm.
It is probable but not certain that the sketch of bent
legs was also made for Christ. None of the drawings
connected with the fresco shows Christ with a leg bent
quite so tautly, but in the largest surviving compositional
drawing (CB 65 Frecto/B 142 /Corpus34 7;black chalk,
420 × 297 mm), His left leg is quite strongly bent, and
the present drawing may register a stage in the design of
His figure for which no other evidence survives. How-
ever, this drawing of a leg also contains some similarities
to the study of two legs and a groin at the left side of
W 61 verso/Corpus 352 (black chalk, 396 × 263 mm), a
sheet that contains exclusively studies for angels with the
Instruments of the Passion in the upper right lunette. It is
not, therefore, to be excluded that the present sheet might
be connected with these figures as well as with that of
Christ.
In any case, with their broad diagrammatic hatching
and swiftly drawn decisive contours, all the drawings on
this side of the sheet powerfully establish key expressive
units. Michelangelo must have made large numbers of
sketches of this type, but very few survive.
The upper of the two verso drawings also shows a right
arm, but one raised at a much shallower angle. It does not
seem to be for the gesture of Christ and probably rep-
resents a preliminary idea, not retained in execution, for
that of one of the angels in the upper right lunette. A pre-
liminary sketch for the same right arm is found on a draw-
ing in Florence (CB 14 Averso/B 117 /Corpus 577 ;black
chalk, 388 × 558 mm), which also contains three other