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Study for the Nude Youth over the Prophet Daniel (recto); Figure Studies for the Sistine Ceiling (verso), by Michelangelo Buonarroti, 1510–11

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Michelangelo Buonarroti

Italian, 1475–1564

Study for the Nude Youth over the Prophet Daniel (recto); Figure Studies for the Sistine Ceiling (verso)1510–11

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.)

Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art · 1940.465

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. More about this work

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Format

Archival pigment inks on Hahnemühle Photo Rag, a 308 gsm cotton paper, with a white border.

Size

At this size the museum's file prints at 193 ppi: sharp at arm's length, a little softer than the smaller sizes up close.

Size
16 × 20 in · image 10¼ × 17½
Paper
Hahnemühle Photo Rag, 308 gsm
Price
$56

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About this work

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.

Text from the Cleveland Museum of Art.

How it was made

Chalk
Natural black, red and white chalks. Used together on toned paper they could give the warmth of flesh with very little effort, and they were favourites for studies from life.
Charcoal
Burnt willow or vine. It smudges and wipes away easily, which made it the natural tool for working out a composition.

Michelangelo Buonarroti

Italian, 1475–1564 · Born in Caprese; died in Rome.

See all 2 works by Michelangelo Buonarroti

Renaissance

European art from about 1400 to 1600, when painters rediscovered perspective and the classical past.

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Rights and the museum’s record

Public domain. The Cleveland Museum of Art has dedicated this image to the public domain under CC0, so anyone may copy, adapt and use it, for any purpose, without asking. Our prints and files are reproductions made from the museum’s image; the museum doesn’t endorse them.

Object number
1940.465
Credit
Courtesy of the Cleveland Museum of Art
Type
Drawing
Department
Drawings
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