Michelangelo drawings, real or fake?
April 7th, 2006
This drawing is “one of Michelangelo’s most celebrated works in the British Museum,” in the words of curator Hugo Chapman. But did Michelangelo draw it?
To answer this question it helps to consider, is the drawing:
- similar to other works by Michelangelo?
- something that plausibly could have been made by someone else?
This figure drawing is different from other surviving drawings by Michelangelo, although it is clearly related to one of his lost masterpieces. But because of the unique history of that lost work, many copies were made by artists in the 16th century. The British Museum drawing is likely one of those copies.
Full-length version of this essay
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April 19th, 2006 at 11:51 am
I’m totally impressed, Zip. And that’s saying something for me. It’s an important look at an important question. I’ll stick my neck out and say I think you may be overly generous in putting a 10% authenticity rating on the Seated Male drawing. Who ever did it was a lousy artist and knew nothing about the human body. The entire area including the hip and buttocks is completely wrong, wrong WRONG ! If I recall correctly, Michaelangelo was an absolute fanatic about getting the bone structure and muscle structure of his nudes correct. To the point that he invaded the morgues and hospitals at night to cut open the bodies of corpses to study how the human body is put together. No one who did THAT would be guilty of the “Seated Male” atrocity.
One aspect of the question remains a puzzle for me. Where have these drawings been for the last 500 years ? Who had them ? Who protected them from wear and tear. Who kept them dry and insured that the air and the humidity did not turn them to dust ? Things like this don’t just “turn up” Being a skeptic, I fully expect that in four or five years, after the present puffery surrounding them has subsided, all these drawings NOT positively identified as fakes will be up for sale at bloated prices. And when they’re sold. a second batch of Michaelangelo’s drawings or etchings or sketches or paintings or carvings or doodlings will be discovered and the whole process will begin again. After all, as far as art dealers are concerned there’s a sucker born every minute.
Regards, Bill
(cross-posted from Google rec.arts.fine discussion group)
April 25th, 2006 at 8:55 am
Fascinating essay Karl, as is Bill’s comment. Thanks for posting the link on my blog. Your blog is very interesting & I’ll keep an eye on it from now on.