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The Dream (Il Sogno)
Maker
(artist)
1475-1564
1475-1564
Title
The Dream (Il Sogno)
Date of Production
(circa) 1533
Medium
black chalk on laid paper
Dimensions
Height: 39.8 cm
Width: 28.1 cm
Width: 28.1 cm
Accession Number
D.1978.PG.424
Mode of Acquisition
HM Government (Acceptance in Lieu), allocation, 1978
Credit
Accepted by HM Government in lieu of Inheritance Tax and allocated to the Samuel Courtauld Trust, 1981.
Copyright
Work in the public domain
Location
Not currently on display
Keywords
Label Text
Michelangelo’s highly complex allegory shows an idealised nude youth surrounded by worldly vices. A winged being approaches with a trumpet as if to awaken him to a new life. This exceptionally refined work epitomises the notion of a master drawing: executed with great skill by an artist whom contemporaries dubbed ‘The Divine’, it was produced as an independent work. Michelangelo may have presented it to his beloved friend, the beautiful young Roman nobleman Tommaso de’ Cavalieri. It immediately became famous among collectors and artists. Numerous copies were made and, unusually for a drawing, it acquired a title when the Renaissance biographer Giorgio Vasari named it 'Il Sogno' in 1568.
Notes
A winged spirit, perhaps the mythological personification of Fame, swoops down to trumpet an important message. The figure’s torso is twisted, with legs bent helter-skelter in an elegant suggestion of urgency. The announcement is not delivered to a receptive ear, but to the forehead of a beautiful male nude, who is draped over a terrestrial globe. This pair of figures is set upon a fabric-covered box containing a pile of masks. In the background, groups of writhing bodies blend with a haze of cloud, which arches around the male protagonist. These smaller figures are characterised by a sketchy style, which makes a stark contrast to the luminous, sculptural appearance of the main players.
The intended meaning of this enigmatic drawing has never been confirmed. The title of the work comes from Giorgio Vasari’s 1568 Lives of the Artists, in which the biographer referred to it as Il Sogno (The Dream). Most commonly, this drawing has been interpreted as the human mind being summoned back to virtue from the vices. Indeed, all of the seven cardinal vices except for Pride are represented by the figures in the clouds. From left to right, they feature in the following order: gluttony, lust, greed, wrath, envy and sloth. We can see, for example, a large bag of money that hovers above the youth’s head, symbolising Greed. Immediately to the right of this pouch, a cowering figure braces against the wrath of his neighbour, who is poised to lash out with a baton. The masks within the open box in the foreground do not conform to the traditional seven vices, but had long been emblems of deceit and falsity. In 1545, soon after this drawing was produced, it inspired the design of a maiolica dish depicting the Prophet Daniel, whose dreams were haunted by the seven deadly sins.
The importance of the mind’s engagement with virtue is highlighted by the trumpet that meets the youth’s forehead. This part of the body, according to Renaissance medical tradition, is the location of the imagination. Fame’s trumpet therefore homes in on the imagination of the nude, imploring him to overcome temptation and lead a virtuous life. Leonardo da Vinci (1452–1519) referred to the forehead area as the imprensiva, or ‘the part of the brain that receives and processes visual impressions’. The importance of the forehead as the site of visual artistry also draws our attention to the creative talent needed to produce this artwork itself. The refined quality of this drawing, clear in the almost waxy finish of the central figures, suggests that it was not produced in preparation for another work such as a painting or print. It is instead an independent piece that would likely have been a gift to a friend or patron. Such artworks are known as ‘presentation drawings’. In 1533, Michelangelo gifted a group of four such works to his friend and rumoured lover, the nobleman Tommaso dei Cavalieri (1509–1587). Three of these are at the Royal Library in Windsor, and share a similar aesthetic to The Dream, whose recipient remains unknown. The complexities of this artwork would have offered the perfect opportunity for contemplation within a learned, connoisseurial environment. We know that the presentation drawings owned by Cavalieri were viewed by the ruling classes in Rome and even by the Pope himself. Here, Michelangelo invites his viewers to reflect upon topics fundamental to human existence: virtue, vice, beauty and temptation.
Provenance
possibly given by the artist to Tommaso de' Cavalieri (c. 1512-1587); if so, possibly given back to Casa Buonarroti, if not, possibly had been retained at Casa Buonarroti; probably acquired there by Jean-Baptiste-Joseph Wicar, Lille (1762-1834), in the late 1780s or in the 1800s; probably acquired from him by William Young Ottley (1771-1836), either Spring 1799 (from Antonio Fedi, who had stolen a group of drawings from Wicar and sold them to Ottley) or after 1801 (when Ottley and Wicar possibly worked out a deal for the return of the stolen drawings to Wicar and some compensation for Ottley's loss); his sale, T. Philipe (London), 6 June 1814 and following days, lot 1767; probably purchased there by Sir Thomas Lawrence (1769-1830); ceded by his executors to Samuel Woodburn (1786-1853), 1835; purchased from him by William II, King of the Netherlands (1792-1849), 1838; his sale, de Vries, Roos, Brondgeest (The Hague), 12 August 1850 and following days, 'Dessins' lot 125 (as attributed to Michelangelo); purchased there by Samuel Woodburn (1786-1853) (not listed in his 1854 or 1860 estate sales); Alexander August Johann, Grand Duke of Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach (1818-1901), by 1875 (when published by Gotti 1875 as belonging to the Duke's wife, Sophie, who also was daughter of former owner William II, King of the Netherlands); by descent to Karl August, Grand Duke of Sachsen-Weimar-Eisenach (1912-1988); purchased from him via Colnaghi (London) by Count Antoine Seilern (1901-1978), 25 September 1952; Princes Gate Bequest, 1978 (Accepted by HM Government in lieu of Inheritance Tax and allocated to the Samuel Courtauld Trust, 1981)
Exhibition History
Michelangelo: Divine Draftsman and Designer, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 06/11/2017-12/02/2018
Mantegna to Matisse - Master Drawings from The Courtauld Gallery, The Frick Collection, New York, 02/10/2012-27/01/2013 ...More
Mantegna to Matisse - Master Drawings from The Courtauld Gallery, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 14/06/2012-09/09/2012
Michelangelo's Dream, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 18/02/2010-16/05/2010
Material Evidence, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 30/10/1998-24/01/1999
Master Drawings from the Courtauld Collections, Courtauld Institute Galleries, London, 16/10/1991-19/01/1992
Mantegna to Cezanne - Master Drawings from the Courtauld, British Museum, London, 24/02/1983-19/06/1983
The Princes Gate Collection - Drawings (Selection A), The Courtauld Gallery, London, 17/07/1981-26/01/1982
Michelangelo e i Medici, Casa Buonarroti, Florence, 1980
Drawings by Michelangelo in the collection of Her Majesty the Queen at Windsor Castle, the Ashmolean Museum, the British Museum and other English collections, British Museum, London, 06/02/1975-27/04/1975
One hundred original drawings by Michelangelo, collected by Sir T. Lawrence, The Lawrence Gallery, 1836 (July) ...Less
Mantegna to Matisse - Master Drawings from The Courtauld Gallery, The Frick Collection, New York, 02/10/2012-27/01/2013 ...More
Mantegna to Matisse - Master Drawings from The Courtauld Gallery, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 14/06/2012-09/09/2012
Michelangelo's Dream, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 18/02/2010-16/05/2010
Material Evidence, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 30/10/1998-24/01/1999
Master Drawings from the Courtauld Collections, Courtauld Institute Galleries, London, 16/10/1991-19/01/1992
Mantegna to Cezanne - Master Drawings from the Courtauld, British Museum, London, 24/02/1983-19/06/1983
The Princes Gate Collection - Drawings (Selection A), The Courtauld Gallery, London, 17/07/1981-26/01/1982
Michelangelo e i Medici, Casa Buonarroti, Florence, 1980
Drawings by Michelangelo in the collection of Her Majesty the Queen at Windsor Castle, the Ashmolean Museum, the British Museum and other English collections, British Museum, London, 06/02/1975-27/04/1975
One hundred original drawings by Michelangelo, collected by Sir T. Lawrence, The Lawrence Gallery, 1836 (July) ...Less
Literature
Triumph of the body: Michelangelo and sixteenth-century Italian draughtsmanship, Museum of Fine Arts, Budapest, 2019
p. 358
fig. 114 on p. 358
Wivel, Matthias, Exhibition Review 'Michelangelo in New York' in 'Burlington Magazine', 2018 - pp. 137-41; CLX
p. 139
Vowles, Sarah, 'Review of Exhibition: Michelangelo: Divine Draftsman & Designer' in 'Renaissance Studies', October 2018 - pp. 299-306; 33, 2
pp. 302-04
fig. 3 on p. 303 ...More
Bambach, Carmen, Michelangelo: Divine Draftsman and Designer, New Haven and London, Yale University Press, Metropolitan Museum of Art 2017
cat. no. 131
pp. 22, 149, 153-54, 175, 186, 288 and no. 131 on p. 303
pl. 131 on p. 154
Turner, James Grantham, Eros Visible: Art, Sexuality and Antiquity in Renaissance Italy, New Haven and London: Yale University Press 2017
pp. 389-94
D’après Michelangelo: la fortuna dei disegni per gli amici nelle arti del Cinquecento, Castello Sforzesco, Milan, 2015, 2 vols.
vol. I, pp. 189-93, 202, no. VII, p. 188; vol. II, p. 142 under no. 243
vol. I, fig. 1 on pp. 188, 190.
Mantegna to Matisse - Master Drawings from The Courtauld Gallery, Frick Collection, New York and Courtauld Gallery, London London 2012-2013
cat. no. 12
ill. on p. 81
Barnes, Bernadine, Michelangelo in print: reproductions as response in the sixteenth century, Farnham, Surrey 2010
pp. 66, 68
fig. 3.10
'The Dream goes on: copies after the Sogno' in 'Michelangelo's Dream', The Courtauld, London, 2010, pp. 49-65
pp. 49-65
Michelangelo's Dream, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 2010
cat. no. 1
and throughout the catalogue
ill. on front cover (detail), frontispiece (detail), p. 10 (detail), p. 26 (detail), fig. 38 on p. 53 (detail), pp. 74-75 (detail), pp. 101, 102 (verso), fig. 60 on p. 104 (detail), p. 106 (detail), fig. 62 on p. 107 (detail), p. 174 (detail) and back cover
entry author: Stephanie Buck
van den Doel, Marieke, 'Ficino, Diacceto and Michelangelo's presentation drawings' in 'The making of the humanities: Early Modern Europe', Amsterdam 2010 - pp. 107-31; 1
pp. 114-20
fig. 24
Robertson, Charles, 'Review of Michelangelo's Dream' in 'Burlington Magazine', May 2010 - pp. 339-40; 152, 1286
pp. 339-40
Petherbridge, Deanna, The primacy of drawing: histories and theories of practice, New Haven 2010
p. 260
pl. 183 on p. 262
Sewell, Brian, 'Michelangelo and his boy' in 'London Evening Standard', 18 Feb. 2010. Accessed 22 September 2020, https://www.standard.co.uk/arts/michelangelo-and-his-boy-6712836.html
unpag.
ill.
Jury, Louise, 'Love that captured Michelangelo's art' in 'London Evening Standard', 17 Feb. 2010
p. 26
ill.
Campbell-Johnston, Rachel, 'Michelangelo's lessons in lust' in 'The Times', 17 Feb. 2010
p. 15
ill. on p. 15
Michelangelo: Ziechnungen und Zuschreibungen / Drawings and attributions, Städel Museum, Frankfurt am Main, 2009
pp. 126-27
fig. 33
Marongiu, M., Currus auriga paterni. Fetonte nel Rinascimento: modelli antichi e fortuna del mito nell'arte dei secoli XVII-XVIII, Lugano 2008
p. 75
Sebastiano del Piombo. 1485-1547, Palazzo Venezia, Rome and Gemäldegalerie, Berlin, 2008
p. 322
author: Joannides
van den Doel, M.J.E., Ficino en het voorstellingsvermogen: phantasia en imaginatio in kunst en theorie van de Renaissance, PhD thesis, University of Amsterdam 2008
pp. 185, 193-204, 213, 219, 396-97
afb. 56 on p. 361
Quignard, Pascal, La nuit sexuelle, Paris 2007
ill. on p. 24
Acidini Luchinat, Cristina, Michelangelo pittore, Milan 2007
pp. 240, 242-43, 251 note 100
ill. on p. 241
Schumacher, Andreas, Michelangelos Teste divine: Idealbildnisse als Exempla der Zeichenkunst, Tholos kunsthistorische Studien, Münster 2007; 3
pp. 35, 58. 60-61, 73-74, 171, 272
fig. 21
Zöllner, Frank, Christof Thoenes and Thomas Pöpper, Michelangelo 1475-1564: Das vollständige Werk, Cologne 2007
p. 597, no. 194, p. 754
Sickel, Lothar, 'Die Sammlung des Tommaso de' Cavalieri und die Provenienz der Zeichnungen Michelangelos' in 'Römisches Jahrbuch der Bibliotheca Hertziana', 2006 - pp. 163-221; 37
pp. 170, 174, 196 note 26, 142
fig. 10
Hall, James, Michelangelo and the reinvention of the human body, New York 2005
pp. 192-98, 218, 235
fig. 25
Ruvoldt, Maria, The Italian Renaissance imagery of inspiration: metaphors of sex, sleep and dreams, Cambridge 2004
pp. 141-87
fig. 45 on p. 143
Peck, James, 'Daniel dreaming: a misnomer revisited' in 'Apollo', Jan. 2003 - pp. 32-36; CLVI, 491
pp. 32-36
fig. 3 on p. 33
Boubli, L., L'atelier du dessin italien à la Renaissance. Variante et variation, Paris 2003
p. 117
Ruvoldt, Maria, 'Michelangelo's dream' in 'Art Bulletin', Mar. 2003 - pp. 86-113; 85, 1
pp. 86-113
fig. 1 on p. 87
Venere e Amore. Michelangelo e la nuova bellezza ideale / Venus and Love. Michelangelo and the new ideal of beauty, Galleria dell'Accademia, Florence, 2002
pp. 222-25
Il mito di Ganimede prima e dopo Michelangelo, Casa Buonarroti, Florence, 2002
pp. 31, 82 under no. 22
Vita di Michelangelo, Casa Buonarroti, Florence, 2001-02, 2001
p. 89 under no. 56, p. 100 under no. 63
ill. on p. 100
entry author: Marcella Marongiu
Gombrich, E.H., 'Sleeper Awake! A literary parallel to Michelangelo's drawing of "The Dream of Human Life" in Festschrift für Konrad Oberhuber, Milan 2000
pp. 130-32
Philip Foster, New York, Catalogue, 2000 (April?)
under no. 58
Material Evidence, Courtauld Gallery, London, 1998-1999
Morganti, C., 'Il "Sogno" di Michelangelo: una ricognizione iconografica' in 'Grafica d'arte: rivista di storia dell'incisione antica e moderna e storia del disegno', 1997 - pp. 2-6; viii, no. 31
pp. 2-6
Vittoria Colonna. Dichterin und Muse Michelangelos, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, 1997
p. 331
Leuschner, E., Persona, Larva, Maske. Ikonologische Studien zum 16. bis früen 18. Jahrhundert, Frankfurt am Main 1997
pp. 201-04, 523
fig. 93
Michelangelo and his influence: drawings from Windsor Castle, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. and locations in USA and UK, 1996
pp. 54-55, 60 under no. 10 and 65 under no. 12
Paoletti, John T., 'Michelangelo's masks' in 'The Art Bulletin', Sep. 1992 - pp. 423-40; LXXIV, 3
pp. 428-29
Museum of Fine Arts, Montreal, The genius of the sculptor in Michelangelo's work, 1992
p. 402 under no. 115, p. 404 under no. 116
fig. 175
entry author: Marani
Winner, Matthias, 'Michelangelo's Il Sogno as an example of an artist's visual reflection in his drawings' in 'Michelangelo drawings. Studies in the history of art 33. Proceedings of a symposium held at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., in October 1988', Center for Advanced Study in Visual Arts, Symposium papers, 17. Washington, D.C. 1992 - pp. 227-42
pp. 227-42
ill. on p. 228
Schuster, P.-K., Melencolia I. Dürers Denkbild, Berlin 1991; 2 vols.
pp. 251, 305-06
fig. 265
Perrig, Alexander, Michelangelo's drawings: the science of attribution, New Haven 1991
pp. 33, 43, 122 note 35, 126 note 74
Master Drawings from the Courtauld Collections, Courtauld Institute Galleries, London, 1991
cat. no. 50
pp. 108, 185
ill. on p. 109
Enrique Pardo, 'Dionysos: A tragic putrefactio and a Baroque renaisance [sic]: An introduction to Paul Kugler's "The Alchemical Theatre"', Sphinx: Journal for Archetypal Psychology and the Arts, vol. 2, London, 1989, pp. 173-77
ill. on p. 177
Hirst, Michael, Michelangelo: draftsman, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. and Musée du Louvre, Paris, 1988-89
pp. 113-14 under no. 47
French edition also by Hirst, publ. 1989, same pp.; clarifies that artist did not use stippling techinique
Farr, Dennis, 100 Masterpieces from the Courtauld Collections, London: Courtauld Institute Galleries, 1987
p. 132
ill. on p. 133
Saslow, James M., Ganymede in the Renaissance: homosexuality in art and society, New Haven 1986
pp. 34, 45-47, 58
fig. 1.14
A. David Napier, Masks, Transformation and Paradox, Berkeley, Los Angeles and London: University of California Press, 1986.
p. 2
pl. 2
Bettarini, Rosanna and Paola Barocchi, Giorgio Vasari: Le vite de' più eccelenti pittori, scultori e architettori nelle redazioni del 1550 e 1568, Florence 1984
p. 20
Mantegna to Cezanne: Master Drawings from the Courtauld, British Museum, London, 1983
cat. no. 30
ill. on p. 38
The Princes Gate Collection - Drawings (Selection A), Courtauld Gallery, London, 1981-1982
cat. no. 139
as by Michelangelo
Summers, David, Michelangelo and the language of art, Princeton, NJ 1981
p. 215
fig. 53
Hirst, Michael, Sebastiano del Piombo, Oxford 1981
p. 70 note 29
Il primato del disegno, Palazzo Strozzi, Florence, 1980
p. 257 under no. 649
Tolnay, Charles de, and Paola Squellati Brizio, Michelangelo e i Medici, Casa Buonarroti, Florence, 1980
cat. no. 79
pp. 91-92
ill. on p. 56
Linda Murray, Michelangelo, London: Thames and Hudson, 1980.
pp. 156-60, 211
fig. 125, p. 159
Frommel, C.L., Michelangelo und Tommaso dei Cavalieri: mit der Ubertragung von Francesco Diaccetos 'Panegirico all'amore', Amsterdam 1979
p. 66
Testa, J.A., 'The iconography of the archers: a study of self-concealment and self-revelation in Michelangelo's presentation drawings' in 'Studies in Iconography', 1979 - pp. 45-72; 5
pp. 45-58 esp. 52-56
fig. 4
Zehnpfennig, M., Traum und Vision in Darstellung des 16. und 17. Jahrhunderts, Hanover 1979
pp. 31-74
Tanaka, H., 'Il giudizio universale di Michelangelo e i disegni per Cavalieri' in 'Annuario, Istituto Giapponese di Cultura in Roma', 1979-80 - pp. 21-50; 16
pp. 38, 48
Wilde, Johannes, Michelangelo: six lectures [Based on lectures presented at the Courtauld Institute, London, in the 1950s], Oxford Studies in the History of Art and Architecture 1978
no. 148, pp. 153-56
fig. 4
Hartt, Frederick, Michelangelo drawings, New York and London 1970/71; repr. 1975
p. 249 and no. 359 on p. 251
ill. on p. 256
as by Michelangelo
Drawings by Michelangelo in the collection of Her Majesty the Queen at Windsor Castle, the Ashmolean Museum, the British Museum and other English collections, British Museum, London, 1975
cat. no. 128
ill. on p. 109
as by Michelangelo
de Tolnay, Charles, Corpus dei disegni di Michelangelo, Novara 1975-80
vol. II, pp. 102-03, no. 333 and p. 102 under no. 332 Recto
as by Michelangelo
Wadley, Nicholas, Michelangelo, London 1965; repr. 1969
ill.
Goldscheider, Ludwig, Michelangelo drawings, London 1966 (2nd ed.)
no. 97 on pp. 54, 57
ill.?
as by Michelangelo
Fortuna di Michelangelo nell'incisione, Museo del Sannio, Benevento, 1964
p. 68 under no. 40
Gould, Cecil, National Gallery catalogues. The sixteenth century Italian schools, excluding the Venetian, London 1962
p. 100 under no. 8
Dussler, Luitpold, Die Zeichnungen des Michelangelo: kritischer Katalog, Berlin 1959
pp. 268-69, no. 589
questioned authenticity
Clark, Kenneth, The nude: a study in ideal art, London 1956
pp. 238, 299
Scritti di storia dell'arte in onore di Lionello Venturi, Rome 1956
pp. 349-58
Wilde, Johannes, Italian drawings in the Department of Prints and Drawings: Michelangelo and his studio, London 1953
p. 95
accepted as by Michelangelo
Goldscheider, Ludwig, Michelangelo drawings, London 1951
pp. 18, 49-50, no. 93
accepted as by Michelangelo
de Tolnay, Charles, Michelangelo, Princeton 1943-60; 5 vols.
vol. 5 (1960), no. 169 on pp. 181-82
fig. 131
as by Michelangelo
Pigler, Andrew, 'The importance of iconographical exactitude' in 'The Art Bulletin', Sep. 1939 - pp. 228-37; 21, 3
p. 233
as by a disciple of Michelangelo
Panofsky, Erwin, 'Note on The importance of iconographical exactitude' in 'The Art Bulletin', Dec. 1939 - p. 402; 21, 4
p. 402
Panofsky, Erwin, 'The Neo-Platonic movement and Michelanglo' in 'Studies in Iconology: humanistic themes in the art of the Renaissance', New York 1939 - pp. 171-230
pp. 223-25
fig. 167
Delacre, M., Le dessin de Michel-Ange, Brussels 1938
pp. 398-400
Berenson, Bernard, The drawings of the Florentine painters, Chicago and London 1938
vol. II, no. 1748B on p. 244
vol. III, fig. 693
as a copy after Michelangelo
Borenius, Tancred and Rudolf Wittkower, Catalogue of the collection of drawings by the old masters formed by Sir Robert Mond, London 1937
p. 39 under no. 161
Brinckmann, Albert Erich, Michelangelo Zeichnungen, Munich 1925
no. 59, pp. 47-48
leaves question of authorship open
Frey, Karl, Die Handzeichnungen Michelagniolos Buonarroti, Berlin 1925
under no. 157
as not by Michelangelo
Popp, Anny E., Review of 'Brinckmann: Michelangelo-Zeichnungen' in 'Belvedere', 1925 - pp. 72-75
p. 74 (according to de Tolnay 1960) or p. 75 (according to Courtauld 2010)
agrees it is a copy after Michelangelo
Thode, H., Michelangelo und das Ende der Renaissance, Berlin 1912; vol. 3
pp. 671-73
Justi, Carl, Michelangelo. Neue Beiträge zur Erklärung seiner Werke, Berlin 1909
pp. 345-48
Thode, Henry, Michelangelo: Kritische Untersuchungen über seine Werke, Berlin 1908-13; 3 vols.
vol. 2 (1908), pp. 375-82, no. XVI; vol. 3 (1913), pp. 242-43, no. 520
as by Michelangelo
Morelli, Giovanni, 'Handzeichnungen italienischer Meister in photographischen Aufnahmen von Braun & Co. in Dornach, kritisch gesichtet von Giovanni Morelli' in 'Kunstchronik', 24 Nov. 1892; Heft 6
col. 85
Gotti, Aurelio, Vita di Michelangelo Buonarroti narrata con l'aiuto di nuovi documenti, Florence 1875
p. 210
mentioned as belonging to Weimar
Waagen, G.F., Works of art and artists in England, London 1838; 3 vols.
vol. II, p. 172
Exhibition of the Collection of Sir Thomas Lawrence, Lawrence Gallery, London, 1836
cat. no. 77
Ottley, W.Y., The Italian school of design: being a series of fac-similes of original drawings, by the most eminent painters and sculptors of Italy: with biographical notices of the artists and observations on their works, London 1823
p. 33
Vasari, Giorgio, Le vite de' piu eccellenti pittori scultori, e architettori, Florence 1568
vol. V, p. 20 ...Less
p. 358
fig. 114 on p. 358
Wivel, Matthias, Exhibition Review 'Michelangelo in New York' in 'Burlington Magazine', 2018 - pp. 137-41; CLX
p. 139
Vowles, Sarah, 'Review of Exhibition: Michelangelo: Divine Draftsman & Designer' in 'Renaissance Studies', October 2018 - pp. 299-306; 33, 2
pp. 302-04
fig. 3 on p. 303 ...More
Bambach, Carmen, Michelangelo: Divine Draftsman and Designer, New Haven and London, Yale University Press, Metropolitan Museum of Art 2017
cat. no. 131
pp. 22, 149, 153-54, 175, 186, 288 and no. 131 on p. 303
pl. 131 on p. 154
Turner, James Grantham, Eros Visible: Art, Sexuality and Antiquity in Renaissance Italy, New Haven and London: Yale University Press 2017
pp. 389-94
D’après Michelangelo: la fortuna dei disegni per gli amici nelle arti del Cinquecento, Castello Sforzesco, Milan, 2015, 2 vols.
vol. I, pp. 189-93, 202, no. VII, p. 188; vol. II, p. 142 under no. 243
vol. I, fig. 1 on pp. 188, 190.
Mantegna to Matisse - Master Drawings from The Courtauld Gallery, Frick Collection, New York and Courtauld Gallery, London London 2012-2013
cat. no. 12
ill. on p. 81
Barnes, Bernadine, Michelangelo in print: reproductions as response in the sixteenth century, Farnham, Surrey 2010
pp. 66, 68
fig. 3.10
'The Dream goes on: copies after the Sogno' in 'Michelangelo's Dream', The Courtauld, London, 2010, pp. 49-65
pp. 49-65
Michelangelo's Dream, The Courtauld Gallery, London, 2010
cat. no. 1
and throughout the catalogue
ill. on front cover (detail), frontispiece (detail), p. 10 (detail), p. 26 (detail), fig. 38 on p. 53 (detail), pp. 74-75 (detail), pp. 101, 102 (verso), fig. 60 on p. 104 (detail), p. 106 (detail), fig. 62 on p. 107 (detail), p. 174 (detail) and back cover
entry author: Stephanie Buck
van den Doel, Marieke, 'Ficino, Diacceto and Michelangelo's presentation drawings' in 'The making of the humanities: Early Modern Europe', Amsterdam 2010 - pp. 107-31; 1
pp. 114-20
fig. 24
Robertson, Charles, 'Review of Michelangelo's Dream' in 'Burlington Magazine', May 2010 - pp. 339-40; 152, 1286
pp. 339-40
Petherbridge, Deanna, The primacy of drawing: histories and theories of practice, New Haven 2010
p. 260
pl. 183 on p. 262
Sewell, Brian, 'Michelangelo and his boy' in 'London Evening Standard', 18 Feb. 2010. Accessed 22 September 2020, https://www.standard.co.uk/arts/michelangelo-and-his-boy-6712836.html
unpag.
ill.
Jury, Louise, 'Love that captured Michelangelo's art' in 'London Evening Standard', 17 Feb. 2010
p. 26
ill.
Campbell-Johnston, Rachel, 'Michelangelo's lessons in lust' in 'The Times', 17 Feb. 2010
p. 15
ill. on p. 15
Michelangelo: Ziechnungen und Zuschreibungen / Drawings and attributions, Städel Museum, Frankfurt am Main, 2009
pp. 126-27
fig. 33
Marongiu, M., Currus auriga paterni. Fetonte nel Rinascimento: modelli antichi e fortuna del mito nell'arte dei secoli XVII-XVIII, Lugano 2008
p. 75
Sebastiano del Piombo. 1485-1547, Palazzo Venezia, Rome and Gemäldegalerie, Berlin, 2008
p. 322
author: Joannides
van den Doel, M.J.E., Ficino en het voorstellingsvermogen: phantasia en imaginatio in kunst en theorie van de Renaissance, PhD thesis, University of Amsterdam 2008
pp. 185, 193-204, 213, 219, 396-97
afb. 56 on p. 361
Quignard, Pascal, La nuit sexuelle, Paris 2007
ill. on p. 24
Acidini Luchinat, Cristina, Michelangelo pittore, Milan 2007
pp. 240, 242-43, 251 note 100
ill. on p. 241
Schumacher, Andreas, Michelangelos Teste divine: Idealbildnisse als Exempla der Zeichenkunst, Tholos kunsthistorische Studien, Münster 2007; 3
pp. 35, 58. 60-61, 73-74, 171, 272
fig. 21
Zöllner, Frank, Christof Thoenes and Thomas Pöpper, Michelangelo 1475-1564: Das vollständige Werk, Cologne 2007
p. 597, no. 194, p. 754
Sickel, Lothar, 'Die Sammlung des Tommaso de' Cavalieri und die Provenienz der Zeichnungen Michelangelos' in 'Römisches Jahrbuch der Bibliotheca Hertziana', 2006 - pp. 163-221; 37
pp. 170, 174, 196 note 26, 142
fig. 10
Hall, James, Michelangelo and the reinvention of the human body, New York 2005
pp. 192-98, 218, 235
fig. 25
Ruvoldt, Maria, The Italian Renaissance imagery of inspiration: metaphors of sex, sleep and dreams, Cambridge 2004
pp. 141-87
fig. 45 on p. 143
Peck, James, 'Daniel dreaming: a misnomer revisited' in 'Apollo', Jan. 2003 - pp. 32-36; CLVI, 491
pp. 32-36
fig. 3 on p. 33
Boubli, L., L'atelier du dessin italien à la Renaissance. Variante et variation, Paris 2003
p. 117
Ruvoldt, Maria, 'Michelangelo's dream' in 'Art Bulletin', Mar. 2003 - pp. 86-113; 85, 1
pp. 86-113
fig. 1 on p. 87
Venere e Amore. Michelangelo e la nuova bellezza ideale / Venus and Love. Michelangelo and the new ideal of beauty, Galleria dell'Accademia, Florence, 2002
pp. 222-25
Il mito di Ganimede prima e dopo Michelangelo, Casa Buonarroti, Florence, 2002
pp. 31, 82 under no. 22
Vita di Michelangelo, Casa Buonarroti, Florence, 2001-02, 2001
p. 89 under no. 56, p. 100 under no. 63
ill. on p. 100
entry author: Marcella Marongiu
Gombrich, E.H., 'Sleeper Awake! A literary parallel to Michelangelo's drawing of "The Dream of Human Life" in Festschrift für Konrad Oberhuber, Milan 2000
pp. 130-32
Philip Foster, New York, Catalogue, 2000 (April?)
under no. 58
Material Evidence, Courtauld Gallery, London, 1998-1999
Morganti, C., 'Il "Sogno" di Michelangelo: una ricognizione iconografica' in 'Grafica d'arte: rivista di storia dell'incisione antica e moderna e storia del disegno', 1997 - pp. 2-6; viii, no. 31
pp. 2-6
Vittoria Colonna. Dichterin und Muse Michelangelos, Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna, 1997
p. 331
Leuschner, E., Persona, Larva, Maske. Ikonologische Studien zum 16. bis früen 18. Jahrhundert, Frankfurt am Main 1997
pp. 201-04, 523
fig. 93
Michelangelo and his influence: drawings from Windsor Castle, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. and locations in USA and UK, 1996
pp. 54-55, 60 under no. 10 and 65 under no. 12
Paoletti, John T., 'Michelangelo's masks' in 'The Art Bulletin', Sep. 1992 - pp. 423-40; LXXIV, 3
pp. 428-29
Museum of Fine Arts, Montreal, The genius of the sculptor in Michelangelo's work, 1992
p. 402 under no. 115, p. 404 under no. 116
fig. 175
entry author: Marani
Winner, Matthias, 'Michelangelo's Il Sogno as an example of an artist's visual reflection in his drawings' in 'Michelangelo drawings. Studies in the history of art 33. Proceedings of a symposium held at the National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C., in October 1988', Center for Advanced Study in Visual Arts, Symposium papers, 17. Washington, D.C. 1992 - pp. 227-42
pp. 227-42
ill. on p. 228
Schuster, P.-K., Melencolia I. Dürers Denkbild, Berlin 1991; 2 vols.
pp. 251, 305-06
fig. 265
Perrig, Alexander, Michelangelo's drawings: the science of attribution, New Haven 1991
pp. 33, 43, 122 note 35, 126 note 74
Master Drawings from the Courtauld Collections, Courtauld Institute Galleries, London, 1991
cat. no. 50
pp. 108, 185
ill. on p. 109
Enrique Pardo, 'Dionysos: A tragic putrefactio and a Baroque renaisance [sic]: An introduction to Paul Kugler's "The Alchemical Theatre"', Sphinx: Journal for Archetypal Psychology and the Arts, vol. 2, London, 1989, pp. 173-77
ill. on p. 177
Hirst, Michael, Michelangelo: draftsman, National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C. and Musée du Louvre, Paris, 1988-89
pp. 113-14 under no. 47
French edition also by Hirst, publ. 1989, same pp.; clarifies that artist did not use stippling techinique
Farr, Dennis, 100 Masterpieces from the Courtauld Collections, London: Courtauld Institute Galleries, 1987
p. 132
ill. on p. 133
Saslow, James M., Ganymede in the Renaissance: homosexuality in art and society, New Haven 1986
pp. 34, 45-47, 58
fig. 1.14
A. David Napier, Masks, Transformation and Paradox, Berkeley, Los Angeles and London: University of California Press, 1986.
p. 2
pl. 2
Bettarini, Rosanna and Paola Barocchi, Giorgio Vasari: Le vite de' più eccelenti pittori, scultori e architettori nelle redazioni del 1550 e 1568, Florence 1984
p. 20
Mantegna to Cezanne: Master Drawings from the Courtauld, British Museum, London, 1983
cat. no. 30
ill. on p. 38
The Princes Gate Collection - Drawings (Selection A), Courtauld Gallery, London, 1981-1982
cat. no. 139
as by Michelangelo
Summers, David, Michelangelo and the language of art, Princeton, NJ 1981
p. 215
fig. 53
Hirst, Michael, Sebastiano del Piombo, Oxford 1981
p. 70 note 29
Il primato del disegno, Palazzo Strozzi, Florence, 1980
p. 257 under no. 649
Tolnay, Charles de, and Paola Squellati Brizio, Michelangelo e i Medici, Casa Buonarroti, Florence, 1980
cat. no. 79
pp. 91-92
ill. on p. 56
Linda Murray, Michelangelo, London: Thames and Hudson, 1980.
pp. 156-60, 211
fig. 125, p. 159
Frommel, C.L., Michelangelo und Tommaso dei Cavalieri: mit der Ubertragung von Francesco Diaccetos 'Panegirico all'amore', Amsterdam 1979
p. 66
Testa, J.A., 'The iconography of the archers: a study of self-concealment and self-revelation in Michelangelo's presentation drawings' in 'Studies in Iconography', 1979 - pp. 45-72; 5
pp. 45-58 esp. 52-56
fig. 4
Zehnpfennig, M., Traum und Vision in Darstellung des 16. und 17. Jahrhunderts, Hanover 1979
pp. 31-74
Tanaka, H., 'Il giudizio universale di Michelangelo e i disegni per Cavalieri' in 'Annuario, Istituto Giapponese di Cultura in Roma', 1979-80 - pp. 21-50; 16
pp. 38, 48
Wilde, Johannes, Michelangelo: six lectures [Based on lectures presented at the Courtauld Institute, London, in the 1950s], Oxford Studies in the History of Art and Architecture 1978
no. 148, pp. 153-56
fig. 4
Hartt, Frederick, Michelangelo drawings, New York and London 1970/71; repr. 1975
p. 249 and no. 359 on p. 251
ill. on p. 256
as by Michelangelo
Drawings by Michelangelo in the collection of Her Majesty the Queen at Windsor Castle, the Ashmolean Museum, the British Museum and other English collections, British Museum, London, 1975
cat. no. 128
ill. on p. 109
as by Michelangelo
de Tolnay, Charles, Corpus dei disegni di Michelangelo, Novara 1975-80
vol. II, pp. 102-03, no. 333 and p. 102 under no. 332 Recto
as by Michelangelo
Wadley, Nicholas, Michelangelo, London 1965; repr. 1969
ill.
Goldscheider, Ludwig, Michelangelo drawings, London 1966 (2nd ed.)
no. 97 on pp. 54, 57
ill.?
as by Michelangelo
Fortuna di Michelangelo nell'incisione, Museo del Sannio, Benevento, 1964
p. 68 under no. 40
Gould, Cecil, National Gallery catalogues. The sixteenth century Italian schools, excluding the Venetian, London 1962
p. 100 under no. 8
Dussler, Luitpold, Die Zeichnungen des Michelangelo: kritischer Katalog, Berlin 1959
pp. 268-69, no. 589
questioned authenticity
Clark, Kenneth, The nude: a study in ideal art, London 1956
pp. 238, 299
Scritti di storia dell'arte in onore di Lionello Venturi, Rome 1956
pp. 349-58
Wilde, Johannes, Italian drawings in the Department of Prints and Drawings: Michelangelo and his studio, London 1953
p. 95
accepted as by Michelangelo
Goldscheider, Ludwig, Michelangelo drawings, London 1951
pp. 18, 49-50, no. 93
accepted as by Michelangelo
de Tolnay, Charles, Michelangelo, Princeton 1943-60; 5 vols.
vol. 5 (1960), no. 169 on pp. 181-82
fig. 131
as by Michelangelo
Pigler, Andrew, 'The importance of iconographical exactitude' in 'The Art Bulletin', Sep. 1939 - pp. 228-37; 21, 3
p. 233
as by a disciple of Michelangelo
Panofsky, Erwin, 'Note on The importance of iconographical exactitude' in 'The Art Bulletin', Dec. 1939 - p. 402; 21, 4
p. 402
Panofsky, Erwin, 'The Neo-Platonic movement and Michelanglo' in 'Studies in Iconology: humanistic themes in the art of the Renaissance', New York 1939 - pp. 171-230
pp. 223-25
fig. 167
Delacre, M., Le dessin de Michel-Ange, Brussels 1938
pp. 398-400
Berenson, Bernard, The drawings of the Florentine painters, Chicago and London 1938
vol. II, no. 1748B on p. 244
vol. III, fig. 693
as a copy after Michelangelo
Borenius, Tancred and Rudolf Wittkower, Catalogue of the collection of drawings by the old masters formed by Sir Robert Mond, London 1937
p. 39 under no. 161
Brinckmann, Albert Erich, Michelangelo Zeichnungen, Munich 1925
no. 59, pp. 47-48
leaves question of authorship open
Frey, Karl, Die Handzeichnungen Michelagniolos Buonarroti, Berlin 1925
under no. 157
as not by Michelangelo
Popp, Anny E., Review of 'Brinckmann: Michelangelo-Zeichnungen' in 'Belvedere', 1925 - pp. 72-75
p. 74 (according to de Tolnay 1960) or p. 75 (according to Courtauld 2010)
agrees it is a copy after Michelangelo
Thode, H., Michelangelo und das Ende der Renaissance, Berlin 1912; vol. 3
pp. 671-73
Justi, Carl, Michelangelo. Neue Beiträge zur Erklärung seiner Werke, Berlin 1909
pp. 345-48
Thode, Henry, Michelangelo: Kritische Untersuchungen über seine Werke, Berlin 1908-13; 3 vols.
vol. 2 (1908), pp. 375-82, no. XVI; vol. 3 (1913), pp. 242-43, no. 520
as by Michelangelo
Morelli, Giovanni, 'Handzeichnungen italienischer Meister in photographischen Aufnahmen von Braun & Co. in Dornach, kritisch gesichtet von Giovanni Morelli' in 'Kunstchronik', 24 Nov. 1892; Heft 6
col. 85
Gotti, Aurelio, Vita di Michelangelo Buonarroti narrata con l'aiuto di nuovi documenti, Florence 1875
p. 210
mentioned as belonging to Weimar
Waagen, G.F., Works of art and artists in England, London 1838; 3 vols.
vol. II, p. 172
Exhibition of the Collection of Sir Thomas Lawrence, Lawrence Gallery, London, 1836
cat. no. 77
Ottley, W.Y., The Italian school of design: being a series of fac-similes of original drawings, by the most eminent painters and sculptors of Italy: with biographical notices of the artists and observations on their works, London 1823
p. 33
Vasari, Giorgio, Le vite de' piu eccellenti pittori scultori, e architettori, Florence 1568
vol. V, p. 20 ...Less
Inscriptions
Watermark: left centre (on figure's shoulder): a circle containing a fleur-de-lis (see raking light photos in file; a drawing in the file also includes a star above, but unable to see that in any of the photos or on the drawing).
Inscription: Verso: upper left, graphite, circled: “94”; lower centre, graphite: “126. Michelangelo” and below that, also graphite: “„Der Traúm””.
Collector's mark: none.
Inscription: Verso: upper left, graphite, circled: “94”; lower centre, graphite: “126. Michelangelo” and below that, also graphite: “„Der Traúm””.
Collector's mark: none.
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