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0521551331 c 01 -p 3 CUNY 160 /Joannides 052155 133 1 January 11 , 2007 10 : 14
CATALOGUE 43 WHOLLY OR PARTIALLY AUTOGRAPH SHEETS 217The relation suggested by Berenson, with the nude fig-
ures in contorted poses in the foreground of the compo-
sitional drawing for aMartyrdom of Saint Catherine(Rome,
Galleria Corsini, Inv. 125514 /Berenson 1600 ;black chalk,
265 × 220 mm) is indicative because these figures cer-
tainly reflect knowledge of drawings by Michelangelo
of the same type as the present ones. Incidentally, it is
erroneous to connect the Corsini drawing with Bugiar-
dini’sMartyrdom of Saint Catherinein Santa Maria Novella:
The proportions of the picture-field, the conception of
the action, and the figure-scale are radically different. The
Corsini drawing was made by Alessandro Allori in the
155 0s(Valenti Rodino,` 1998 ) for a treatment of theMar-
tyrdom of Saint Catherinethat either was not continued or
does not survive.
The two sketches on this page are generally linked with
the left-hand figures of theCrucifixion of Saint Peter, the
second of Michelangelo’s frescoes in the Pauline Chapel.
This fresco was begun after the completion in15 4 5 of
the companion piece, theConversion of Saul, and repre-
sented a change of plan, since Vasari in his155 0edition,
substantially complete at the end of15 4 7, described the
subject asChrist Giving the Keys to Saint Peter.Vasari was
not at this stage an intimate of Michelangelo, and may
have been misinformed, but Michelangelo presumably
would not have wished false information to be published
about his work, and Vasari’s statement strongly suggests
that the new subject was not decided upon much before
the end of15 4 7, which would indicate a related date for
the present drawing.
It must have been one of many. The figures in this
group recur in the fragment of the cartoon now in Naples,
Museo di Capodimonte, much altered, thickened, and
aggrandised. The Oxford drawing must have come at an
early stage in the work. The single later study that is gener-
ally accepted to have been made for the fresco, that in the
British Museum (W 70 /Corpus 358 ;black chalk, 140 ×
18 0mm) for the kneeling figure excavating the setting
for Peter’s cross, is broader in handling and expanded
in form.
It may be worth mentioning here a small drawing
of a nude man, seen from behind, his arms drawn over
to the left, in the British Museum (18 95- 09 - 15 - 512 ;
black chalk, 118 × 67 mm), which, although currently
ascribed to Pierino da Vinci (unconvincingly in the
compiler’s view), was given to Michelangelo when
in the Malcolm Collection (Robinson, no. 75 ). Even
though no modern scholar seems to have taken this
drawing seriously, its quality is high, and the compiler
is inclined to think that it too is by Michelangelo: It
bears a resemblance to the main figure on the present
sheet, although it is softer in handling, and it might alsohave been made with the Crucifixion of Saint Peter
in view.History
Jonathan Richardson Senior (L. 2184 ); Sir Joshua
Reynolds (L. 2364 ); Sir Thomas Lawrence (L. 2445 );
Samuel Woodburn.References
Woodburn,184 2,no. 55 (“Four figures of soldiers –
ascending steps, highly finished.”). Woodburn, 184 6,
no. 36 (As184 2.). Fisher, 1852 ,p. 4 , pl. 12 (As Wood-
burn,184 2.). Fisher, 1865 ,I,p. 16 , pl. 12 (As 1852 .).
Robinson,187 0,no. 77 (“Although the firm vigorous
style of drawing might perhaps be thought to denote an
earlier epoch than that of the execution of the Cappella
Paolina frescoes... the great resemblance of these fig-
ures to some of those introduced into the composi-
tion of theCrucifixion of St. Peterseems to denote that
they were preliminary sketches for that design.”). Fisher,
187 2,I,p. 14 , pl. 12 (As 1852 .). Black, 1875 ,p. 215 ,
no. 66. Gotti, 1875 ,II,p. 237 (“probabilmente per
gli affreschi nella Cappella Paolina.”). Fisher, 187 9,
XLVIII/ 50 (Changes of phrasing only.). Morelli,18 91–
2 , col. 544 (“Echt.”). Berenson, 1903 ,I,p. 222 ,no.
15 7 7(Strong resemblance to figures inCrucifixion of St.
Peter,but at least ten years earlier.). Thode, 1908 , II,
p. 79 (Michelangelo, forCrucifixion of St. Peter.). K. Frey,
1909 – 11 , 200 a (“vier meisterhaft erfundenen und geze-
ichneten Akte vorbereitenede Studien zu vier Kriegern
in Kreuzigung Petri,”15 4 1– 2 .). Thode, 1913 ,no. 450
(As 1908 .). Zoff, 1923 , pl. 57 (Michelangelo.). Mariani,
1932 , pl. XI (Michelangelo.). Baumgart, 1934 ,p. 30 (Style
does not accord with Michelangelo’s either in15 4 1or
15 4 6. “il virtuosismo esteriore non s’accoppia una solida
e sicura struttura interno del corpo...Ildisegno appar-
tiene a un imitatore di Michelangelo.” Not a copy of a
lost drawing, but a self-sufficient work inspired by the
fresco. Nothing secure about authorship, but perhaps by
Daniele.). Baumgart, 1935 a,p.34 6(Daniele da Volterra;
analogies to aMartyrdom of St. Catherinein the Galleria
Corsini, attributed by Baumgart to Daniele.). Berenson,
1938 ,I,p. 231 ,no.15 7 7 (Similarities with Michelan-
gelo’s design for Bugiardini, in Rome, Galleria Corsini,
125514 /BB. 1600 ;black chalk, 265 × 220 mm. [Wilde,
1953 a,p. 87 , attributes the Corsini drawing to “some
younger Tuscan follower of Michelangelo” and notes in
it direct derivations from W 35 /Corpus 227 and Haarlem
A 23 /VT 64 /Corpus 357 ].). Goldscheider, 1951 , fig. 187
(Daniele da Volterra.). Wilde, 1953 exh., no. 94 (c.15 4 6,
for soldiers at the left of theCrucifixion of St. Peter.).
Parker, 1956 ,no. 331 (“Though... not among the easiest