Studies for the Libyan Sibyl (recto); Studies for the Libyan Sibyl and a small Sketch for a Seated Figure (verso)
Michelangelo Buonarroti
(Italian, Caprese 1475–1564 Rome)
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- Date: ca. 1510-1511
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Medium: Red chalk, with small accents of white chalk on the
left shoulder of the figure in the main study (recto); soft black chalk,
or less probably charcoal
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At the Metropolitan Museum of Art in NYC — This is the most magnificent drawing by Michelangelo in the United
States.
A male studio assistant posed for the anatomical study, which
was preparatory for the Libyan Sibyl, one of the female seers frescoed
on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel (Vatican Palace) in 1508-12. In the
fresco, the figure is clothed except for her powerful shoulders and
arms, and has an elaborately braided coiffure. Michelangelo used the
present sheet to explore the elements that were crucial in the elegant
resolution of the figure's pose, especially the counterpoint twist of
shoulders and hips and the manner of weight-bearing on her toe. Recent
research shows that this sheet of studies was owned by the Buonarroti
family soon after Michelangelo's death. The "no. 21" inscribed on the
verso of the sheet (at lower center) fits precisely into a numerical
sequence found on many other drawings by the artist that have this early
Buonarroti family provenance.
