(1493-1560) Male nude standing and a male torso seen from behind, pen and brown ink, on laid paper, 41 x 27 cm, inscribed "Miguel Angelo Buonarotti B 49" at lower left margin in pen and brown ink, browned, somewhat stained, mounted, framed, (Sch)

Provenance: Collection Giuseppe Vallardi (1784-1863), Milan (Lugt 1223 and Lugt 1223a);
Private collection, Italy.

Both nude studies presumably go back to a lost drawing by Baccio Bandinelli which for several years may have served as a study template for students in his workshop. Several versions after the drawing by Bandinelli are known: A single study of the standing figure was preserved until 1987 in the collection of William H. Schab & Co (New York), afterwards in the property of Martin Lederman (1995) and subsequently went through the art dealer Paul McCarron (New York). From 1997 onwards the sheet was kept in the collection of a private collector in Phoenix, Arizona. Another version is preserved in the Biblioteca Reale in Turin (comp. A. Bertini, I disegni italiani della Biblioteca Reale in Torino, Rome 1985, No. 47). A third drawing attributed to Bandinelli which was considered the prototype for the other studies was once in the collection of Victor Kock (London and New York). It was sold through Christie's London, 18th April 1967 (Lot 95).

The present drawing may have been the work by a pupil of Bandinelli‘s workshop. The standing figure, however, does not derive from Michelangelo’s „David“, which had been assumed for a long time. It may have been executed after a three dimensional bozzetto or a maquette with drapery. The inscription "Miguel Angelo Buonarotti" at the lower margin of the drawing is by a Spanish collector, who had formerly owned it.

We are grateful to Prof. Roger Ward for the scientific support in cataloguing the present drawing.