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Source Description
Universally considered one of the greatest artists of the Italian Renaissance, Michelangelo devoted four years to painting the vast ceiling fresco in the Sistine Chapel. This preparatory study portrays one of the 20 athletic male nudes, known as ignudi, who serve as supporting figures at each corner of the Old Testament scenes painted down the center of the ceiling. Michelangelo worked out the positioning of the ignudi in red chalk drawings before beginning to paint each section of wet plaster. The energy and monumentality of the figure in red chalk, whose body extends beyond the sheet, suggests the heroic athleticism of Michelangelo’s sculpture.
Scholar Source Context
Document identity
localId
119614
label
Study for the Nude Youth over the Prophet Daniel (recto); Figure Studies for the Sistine Ceiling (verso)
core
obj
dtoType
drawing
pageCount
1
Source metadata
id
119614
contentType
drawing
title
Study for the Nude Youth over the Prophet Daniel (recto); Figure Studies for the Sistine Ceiling (verso)
description
Universally considered one of the greatest artists of the Italian Renaissance, Michelangelo devoted four years to painting the vast ceiling fresco in the Sistine Chapel. This preparatory study portrays one of the 20 athletic male nudes, known as ignudi, who serve as supporting figures at each corner of the Old Testament scenes painted down the center of the ceiling. Michelangelo worked out the positioning of the ignudi in red chalk drawings before beginning to paint each section of wet plaster. The energy and monumentality of the figure in red chalk, whose body extends beyond the sheet, suggests the heroic athleticism of Michelangelo’s sculpture.
date
1510–11
rights
CC0
rightsUri
CC0
language
en
wikidata
Q80014695
creators
1171
genreSpecific
Drawing
imageCount
1
source
import
dimensionsRaw
Sheet: 34.3 x 24.3 cm (13 1/2 x 9 9/16 in.); Secondary Support: 34.4 x 24.4 cm (13 9/16 x 9 5/8 in.)
cul
Italy, 16th century
accession
1940.465
Source extras
tec
red chalk over black chalk or charcoal
tombstone
Study for the Nude Youth over the Prophet Daniel (recto); Figure Studies for the Sistine Ceiling (verso), 1510–11. Michelangelo Buonarroti (Italian, 1475–1564). Red chalk over black chalk or charcoal; sheet: 34.3 x 24.3 cm (13 1/2 x 9 9/16 in.); secondary support: 34.4 x 24.4 cm (13 9/16 x 9 5/8 in.). The Cleveland Museum of Art, Gift in memory of Henry G. Dalton by his nephews George S. Kendrick and Harry D. Kendrick, 1940.465
supportMaterials
description
beige(2) laid paper, perimeter mounted to gray laid paper
collection
DR - Italian
inscriptions
inscription
recto: lower right, in brown ink: 55 [crossed out]
verso: upper center, in brown ink: [Jr?]; upper right, in brown ink: V./.
didYouKnow
When Michelangelo ran out of room for the figure's left foot, he turned the paper over and drew the foot in detail along with three additional sketches of the big toe.
citations
citation
Galerie Jean Charpentier. Dr. Alexander de Frey Collection. Sale catalogue, Galerie Jean Charpentier, Paris, June 12-14, 1933.
page_number
p. 17, no. 7, illus. pl. II (verso, as school of Michelangelo)
citation
Berenson, Bernard. The Drawings of the Florentine Painters. Chicago, Ill: University of Chicago Press, 1938.
page_number
Vol 2, p. 213, no. 1599AA
citation
Francis, Henry S. "A Drawing in Red Chalk by Michelangelo." <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em> 30, no. 3 (March 1943): 25-27.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 25-26; Reproduced: p. 27
citation
The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>The Cleveland Museum of Art Handbook.</em> Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1958.
page_number
Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 570
citation
Cleveland Museum of Art, and William Mathewson Milliken. The Cleveland Museum of Art. New York: H.N. Abrams, 1958.
page_number
reproduced p. 36 (recto)
citation
Dussler, Luitpold. Die Zeichnungen Des Michelangelo; Kritischer Katalog. Berlin: Gebr. Mann, 1959. (as follower of Michelangelo)
page_number
p. 208, no. 387
citation
Barocchi, Paola. Michelangelo e la sua scuola i disegni di casa Buonarroti e degli uffizi. Firenze: L.S. Olschki, 1962.
page_number
vol. I, pp. 24-25, 150, 180
citation
The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1966</em>. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1966.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 92
citation
Rhode Island School of Design. <em>Seven Centuries of Italian Art. A Benefit Exhibition for CRIA to Honor Rhode Island's Italian Festival</em>, [Providence]: [Foremost Lithograph Co.], 1967.
page_number
p. 12
citation
The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1969</em>. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1969.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 92
citation
Hartt, Frederick. Michelangelo Drawings. New York: H.N. Abrams, 1970.
page_number
pp. 20, 82, no. 79, p. 86, no. 104, repr. p. 98 (verso); repr. p. 108 (recto)
citation
Pillsbury, Edmund P. <em>Florence and the Arts; Five Centuries of Patronage</em>. 1971.
page_number
Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 58
citation
De Tolnay, Charles. Corpus dei disegni di Michelangelo. Novara: Istituto geografico De Agostini, 1975.
page_number
vol. I, p. 112, no. 147, repr. pl. 147 (recto and verso)
citation
<em>Masterpieces of World Art from American Museums from Ancient Egyptian to Contemporary Art.</em> Tokyo: National Museum of Western Art, 1976.
page_number
Mentioned and Reproduced: no. 22
citation
Olszewski, Edward J. "A Design for the Sistine Chapel Ceiling." <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em> 63, no. 1 (January 1976): 12-26.
page_number
Mentioned and reproduced: p. 12-14, fig. 2-3
citation
The Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>Handbook of the Cleveland Museum of Art/1978</em>. Cleveland, OH: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 1978.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 106
citation
Olszewski, Edward J., and Jane Glaubinger. <em>The Draftsman's Eye: Late Italian Renaissance Schools and Styles.</em> Cleveland: Published by the Cleveland Museum of Art in cooperation with the Indiana University Press, 1981.
page_number
Mentioned and Reproduced: pp. 10- 11, p. 16, p. 25, p. 57, pp. 81-83, cat. no. 5
citation
Miller, Michael. "A Michelangelo Drawing." <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em> 77, no. 5 (May 1990): 146-174.
page_number
Mentioned: p. 146-174; Reproduced: Cover, p. 146, fig. 1, Back, p. 148, fig. 3
citation
Miller, Bruce F. "Technical Note on the Cleveland Michelangelo Drawing." <em>The Bulletin of the Cleveland Museum of Art</em> 77, no. 5 (1990): 175-179.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 177; Mentioned: p. 175-179
citation
Cleveland Museum of Art, Diane DeGrazia, and Carter E. Foster. Master Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art. Cleveland, OH: Cleveland Museum of Art in association with Rizzoli International Publications, New York, 2000.
page_number
Mentioned: P. 6, 30-33, 284; Reproduced: P. 31-32, cat. no. 6
citation
Joannides, Paul, and Raphael. Raphael and His Age: Drawings from the Palais Des Beaux-Arts, Lille. [France]: Réunion des Musées Nationaux, 2002.
page_number
p. 18, fig. 2 (recto)
citation
Goldner, George R. Master Drawings from the Cleveland Museum of Art," [Exhibition Catalogue] by Diane De Grazia, Carter E. Foster] <em>Master Drawings</em> Master Drawings Vol. 40, No. 2 (Summer, 2002), pp. 174-176.
page_number
p. 175, no. 6 (as copy)
citation
Acidini Luchinat, Cristina. Michelangelo pittore. Milano: F. Motta, 2007.
page_number
p. 206n70
citation
Zöllner, Frank, Christof Thoenes, Thomas Pöpper, and Benedikt Taschen. Michelangelo, 1475-1564: Complete Works. Hong Kong: Taschen, 2007.
page_number
p. 752
citation
Brothers, Cammy. Michelangelo, Drawing, and the Invention of Architecture. New Haven: Yale University Press, 2008.
page_number
pp. 32, 34
citation
Olszewski, Edward J., Burton L. Dunbar, and Robert Munman. Sixteenth-Century Italian Drawings: A Corpus of Drawings in Midwestern Collections. London: Harvey Miller, 2008.
page_number
vol. I, pp. 234-38, no. 191
citation
Gasparri, Carlo, David Franklin, Ingrid D. Rowland, and Sebastian Schütze. <em>From Raphael to Carracci: The Art of Papal Rome.</em> Ottawa: National Gallery of Canada, 2009.
page_number
Mentioned and Reproduced: cat. no. 9, p. 93-95.
citation
Cleveland Museum of Art. <em>The CMA Companion: A Guide to the Cleveland Museum of Art</em>. Cleveland: Cleveland Museum of Art, 2014.
page_number
Mentioned and reproduced: P. 155
citation
Chapman, H. "Michelangelo: Divine Draftsman and Designer." <em>Master Drawings</em> 56, no.3 (Autumn 2018): 385-390.
page_number
Reproduced: p. 387, fig. 4
citation
Chapman, Hugo. "Michelangelo: Divine Draftsman and Designer." <em>Master Drawings </em>56, No. 3 (Autumn 2018): 385-390
page_number
Mentioned and reproduced; pp. 386-387, figs. 3-4
citation
Rosenberg, Pierre, Laure Barthélemy-Labeeuw, Marie-Liesse Delcroix, Stefania Lumetta, and Pierre-Jean Mariette. <em>Les dessins de la collection Mariette: écoles italienne et espagnole</em>. Paris : Somogy Éditions d’art, 2019.
page_number
Reproduced and mentioned: p. 692-693, I1173
citation
Peters, Emily J. and Julian Brooks, with Edina Adam, Marjan Scharloo, and Carel van Tuyll van Serooskerken. <em>Michelangelo: Mind of the Master</em>. Cleveland: The Cleveland Museum of Art, 2019.
page_number
Reproduced and mentioned: pp. 62-67, cat. 7
citation
“Supporter Story: Chace and Josie Anderson.” <em>Cleveland Art: Cleveland Museum of Art Members Magazine </em>vol. 62, no. 4 (December 2022): 32-33.
page_number
Reproduced: P. 33.
creditline
Gift in memory of Henry G. Dalton by his nephews George S. Kendrick and Harry D. Kendrick
updatedAt
2026-05-29 06:10:26.219000
sourceId
119614
dept
Drawings
coll
DR - Italian
med
red chalk over black chalk or charcoal
creatorTags
male
thumbnail_url
image_url
Single page context
seq
1
pageIndex
0
type
photo
mediaId
0c1cc91f24410e39