The Drawings of Michelangelo and His Followers in the Ashmolean Museum

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0521551331 c 01 CUNY 160 /Joannides 052155 133 1 January 10 , 2007 22 : 22

78 WHOLLY OR PARTIALLY AUTOGRAPH SHEETS CATALOGUE 5

Condition

The sheet is drummed by the four edges to the backboard

of the mount, and the verso is not visible. There are sev-

eral areas of loss with historic toned infills, and repairs

are visible, together with severe pressed-out creases.

There is uneven discolouration, local media staining,

and ingrained dirt. The medium is abraded, worn, and

faded.

Inscriptions

Lower centre, in pen and ink:Micchel Angelo Buonarota,

perhaps recording a previous inscription. The hand

responsible is identified by Parker as that of Michelan-

gelo’s great-nephew, Michelangelo the Younger, and this

is accepted by Barocchi, 1964 c,but the handwriting does

not seem to the compiler close to that of the restoration of

the poems 3 and 4 on Cat. 4 verso, and it is hard to believe

that the Younger Michelangelo would have produced so

eccentric a spelling of his great uncle’s Christian name.

Indeed, the compiler is minded to reject this identifica-

tion. If, however, it could be shown to be correct, and if

the inscription replaces an earlier one by theBuona Rota

Collector, as the truncated number of the Irregular Num-

bering Collector at the lower right edge would suggest,

then it would imply that this or these collection(s) was or

were dispersed as a whole or in part within the lifetime of

Michelangelo the Younger (15 6 8– 1647 ), giving him the

opportunity to acquire it.

Lower right edge, the irregular numbering:no.(cutby

the edge of the sheet).

Description

Acavalryman charging forward in pursuit of a fleeing

man, with two others falling below the hoofs of his horse,

is assailed by pikemen at left and right.

Discussion

This drawing was clearly developed from the sketch on

Cat. 4 , which, in turn, was developed from the right side

of the compositional drawing on W 3 /Corpus 36 (pen

and ink, 186 × 183 mm), in which the central element

is a collision of lance-bearing cavalrymen. A series of

drawings indicates that Michelangelo was planning a

battle between cavalrymen and between cavalrymen and

infantry at this time. It is probable that this was to be a sub-

sidiary part of theBattle of Cascina, although not all critics

have accepted this hypothesis, and it cannot positively be