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Last Judgment (recto)

Maker

(artist)
1500-1599

Copy after
(artist)
1475-1564

Formerly attributed to
(artist)
1562-1645

Title

Date of Production

1500 - 1599

Medium

black and red chalk, pen and brown ink (recto and verso), the upper and lower halves having been separated and now joined with a third sheet at the middle; the upper edge cut into two arches

Dimensions

Height: 56.5 cm
Width: 43 cm

Accession Number

D.1975.WF.4774

Mode of Acquisition

Witt Fund, purchase & grant aid with assistance of the Art Fund, July 1975

Credit

The Courtauld, London (Samuel Courtauld Trust)

Copyright

Work in the public domain

Location

Not currently on display

Keywords

Label Text

Michelangelo’s monumental fresco of the Last Judgement in the Sistine Chapel has been a great source of inspiration for artists since its completion in 1541. This drawing relates to the fresco in its composition and its unusual format, with two arches at the top and a rectangular doorway in the lower centre. Differences in the arrangement of the figures suggest it is a copy after an earlier design by Michelangelo. An attribution to the Florentine Andrea Commodi has recently been proposed.

Provenance

Sir Peter Lely (1618-1680), L.2092; Victor Koch, Hampstead (1867-1959); his estate sale, Christie's (London), 18 April 1967, lot 136; purchased there by Sir Timothy P.P. Clifford (b. 1946) (200 guineas); Alister Mathews, Bournemouth (1907-1985); his sale, Autumn 1972, lot 10, (as 'School of Michelangelo'), presumably unsold; purchased from him by The Courtauld via the Witt Fund with the assistance of the Art Fund 1975 (£600)

Exhibition History

Special Display - Peter Lely - The Draughtsman and his Collection, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 24/09/2012-13/01/2013

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

Drawing - Technique and Purpose, Victoria & Albert Museum, London, 28/01/1981-26/04/1981

Literature

Hall, James, 'Under siege: the aesthetics and politics of Michelangelo’s attack on Flemish painting', Simiolus: Netherlands Quarterly for Art History, 42 (Summer 2020 (1/2)., 2020
FIND. Correspondence with author in curatorial file.

Perrig, Alexander, Michelangelo's drawings: the science of attribution, New Haven 1991
p. 133 note 179
as a forgery

Barnes, Bernadine, 'A Lost Modello for Michelangelo's Last Judgment' in 'Master Drawings', Autumn 1988 - pp. 239-48; 26, 3
pp. 239-48
fig. 2 on p. 241 ...More

Drawing - Technique and Purpose, Victoria and Albert Museum, London, 1981
cat. no. 198
erroneously listed as inv. no. 3.75

de Tolnay, Charles, Corpus dei disegni di Michelangelo, Novara 1975-80
vol. III, p. 22
ill.

van Regteren Altena, J.Q., 'Michelangelozeichnungen besonders aus den Jahren 1530-1535' in 'Akten des XXII. Internat. Kongresses fur Kunstgeschichte', Bonn 1964
p. 177 ...Less

Inscriptions

Watermark: Watermark: upper centre: circle containing a crossbow (see drawing in file and photo; of type Briquet 739-750, dated 1469-1563, but no exact match).

Inscription: Verso: upper centre edge, partially cut off by arches, black chalk: “6 5 / 7 97”; left centre edge, brown ink: “3”; below that, in brown ink, a word cut off by loss of paper and now illegible (see photo in file); lower right (below figure of David), brown ink: “davitte giovanetto, e disarmato Mi”; lower left, light brown ink (now faded and nearly illegible, see UV photo in file): “Mi…A…”; lower left edge, brown ink: “5. 4.”.

Collector's mark: Recto: right lower edge, stamped in black, partly cut off: Peter Lely (L.2092).

Information on this object may be incomplete and will be updated as research progresses. We are particularly committed to addressing any discriminatory or offensive language and ideas that might be present in our records. To help improve this record, and to enquire about images of The Courtauld Gallery Collection, please email gallery.collectionsonline@courtauld.ac.uk. Find out more about using and licensing our images.

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