Made by Michelangelo Buonarroti / Sheet of Studies for the Libyan Sibyl / 1508-12

Made by Michelangelo Buonarroti
Sheet of Studies for the Libyan Sibyl
1508-12
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Creator Name: Buonarroti, Michelangelo
Creator Nationality: European; Southern European; Italian
Creator Role: Artist
Creator Dates/Places: Italian, 1475 - 1564
Creator Name-CRT: Made by Michelangelo Buonarroti
Title: Sheet of Studies for the Libyan Sibyl
View: Verso
Creation Start Date: 1508
Creation End Date: 1512
Creation Date: 1508-12
Object Type: Drawings and Watercolors
Materials and Techniques: Red chalk (recto), black chalk (verso), spots of brown wash at lower right of recto; triangular section at right margin replaced
Dimensions: 11-3/8 x 8-7/16 in. (28.9 x 21.4 cm)
AMICA Contributor: The Metropolitan Museum of Art
Owner Location: New York, New York, USA
ID Number: 24.197.2
Credit Line: Purchase, Joseph Pulitzer Bequest, 1924
Rights: http://www.metmuseum.org/
Context:

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 Sistine Ceiling (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.

AMICA ID: MMA_.24.197.2
AMICA Library Year: 2000
Media Metadata Rights: Copyright The Metropolitan Museum of Art

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