The Drawings of Michelangelo and His Followers in the Ashmolean Museum

P 1 :JZP
0521551335 c 06 CUNY 160 /Joannides 052155 133 1 January 11 , 2007 11 : 50

CATALOGUE 99 COPIES AFTER PAINTINGS 365

CATALOGUE 99

bartolommeo passerotti(15 2 9–15 9 2)?

ADemon Biting the Leg of a Damned Soul

184 6. 110 .R. 61 ;P.II36 6

Dimensions: 266 × 224 mm, the lower right corner made

up

Watermark: Indecipherable.

Medium

Red chalk.

Condition

There is uneven, uncomfortable undulation. The sheet

is probably lined: A small torn strip at the left edge

seems to indicate a support behind. There is a corner

infill and a minor toned infill in the image, some small

edge nicks, and a scattering of abraded spots with offset

chalk or dirt. The sheet has widespread foxing and general

discolouration. The primary support is drummed by its

four edges to the backboard, so the verso is not visible.

Discussion

Although this drawing does not make an attractive

impression, it is powerful and plastic and, unlike most

copies of theLast Judgement,conveys both the virtuos-

ity of figure drawing and the hard, polished surface of

Michelangelo’s fresco. It was probably made on site and

not from an intermediary drawing; although the handling

evokes speed and vigour, the areas of hatching are in fact

created by quite small and precise strokes. The outline

of the right elbow was changed; this alteration suggests

that the artist was adjusting his copy by reference to the

original.

Werethis a pen-drawing, there would be an immediate

temptation to give it to Bartolommeo Passerotti, who

passed the first half of the155 0sinRome, made a number

of pen copies after theLast Judgement,andwasstrongly

influenced by certain aspects of it. Passerotti’s penchant