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Nude male figure (after Michelangelo's Last Judgment)

Maker

Attributed to
(artist)
1538-1608

Formerly attributed to
(artist)
1500-1599

Title

Nude male figure (after Michelangelo's Last Judgment)

Date of Production

1500 - 1599

Medium

pen and brown ink on laid paper, laid down

Dimensions

Height: 15.5 cm
Width: 9.1 cm

Accession Number

D.1952.RW.121

Mode of Acquisition

Robert Clermont Witt, bequest, 1952

Credit

The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)

Copyright

Work in the public domain

Location

Not currently on display

Keywords




Label Text

Michelangelo’s work was pivotal for sixteenth-century Spanish artists. This study of a damned figure tumbling headlong into hell is closely related to his Last Judgment in the Sistine Chapel. The humanist and artist Céspedes, who lived in Italy from about 1558 to 1576, may have copied a drawing (now lost) by Michelangelo rather than the fresco, as suggested by differences in the position of the figure as well as the miniature size and exceedingly fine modelling of the drawing.

Provenance

Sir William Stirling Maxwell, London (1818-1878); by descent to his son, Sir John Stirling Maxwell, Glasgow (1866-1956); his sale, Sotheby's (London), 15 - 16 February 1921, lot 249; presumably purchased there by E. Parsons & Sons (London); their sale, cat. 38, 1921, lot 379 (with D.1952.RW.120, 122 and 125); purchased there by Sir Robert Witt (1875-1952) (12 shillings for all 4); Witt Bequest 1952

Exhibition History

The Spanish Line - From Ribera to Picasso, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 13/10/2011-15/01/2012

Special Display - Looking at Michelangelo, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 11/02/2010-06/06/2010

The golden age of Spanish art: from El Greco to Murillo and Valdes Leal: paintings and drawings from British Collections, Nottingham University Art Gallery, 11/02/1980-29/03/1980 ...More

Spanish drawings from the Witt Collection, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 1978 (March - May)

A selection of Spanish drawings from the Witt Collection, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 1956 ...Less

Literature

Véliz, Zahira, Spanish Drawings in the Courtauld Gallery: complete catalogue, London, 2011
no. 7
Illus. p. 85

Angulo Iñiguez, Diego and Alfonso E. Perez, A Corpus of Spanish Drawings, New York 1975-1988; 4 vols.
vol. I, p. 37, no. 125
Illus. pl. XXXVIII
under 'Doubtful attributions'

The golden age of Spanish art: from El Greco to Murillo and Valdes Leal: paintings and drawings from British Collections, Nottingham University Art Gallery, 1980
cat. no. 1 ...More

Spanish drawings from the Witt Collection, Courtauld Gallery, London, 1978 (March - May)
cat. no. 2

A selection of Spanish drawings from the Witt Collection, Courtauld Gallery, London, 1956
cat. no. 3 ...Less

Inscriptions

Watermark: Recto, left centre edge, fragment: edge of a circle.

Inscription: Recto: upper right corner, brown ink: “Cespedes”.

Collector's mark: none.

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