“Studies of a Reclining Male Nude” by Michelangelo

“Studies of a Reclining Male Nude” is a rare drawing by Michelangelo to have survived of the reclining figure of Adam reaching out to God the Father, whose touch grants him life.

This study of Adam was in preparation for the fresco of ‘The Creation of Man’ on the vault of the Sistine Chapel. It was drawn in dark red chalk over some stylus underdrawing.

The reverse side of this paper has a drawing, also in red chalk, of the “Head of a Youth,” turned to the right, wearing a headscarf.

Michelangelo painted the Sistine Chapel ceiling between 1508 and 1512. The ceiling painting is that of the Sistine Chapel, the large papal chapel built within the Vatican starting in 1477 and 1480 by Pope Sixtus IV, for whom the chapel is named.

The chapel is the location for papal conclaves during which Popes are elected. Michelangelo’s painted was commissioned by Pope Julius II.

Creation of Adam from the Sistine Chapel

The Creation of Adam depicts the Biblical creation narrative from the Book of Genesis in which God gives life to Adam, the first man. The image of the near-touching hands of God and Adam has become iconic.

This image is one of the most recognized and replicated religious paintings of all time.

Michelangelo

Michelangelo (1475 – 1564) was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the Renaissance who was born in Florence, and who had a significant influence on the development of Western art.

He is described as one of the greatest artists of all time, and he is often considered as a contender for the title of the leading representative of Renaissance man, along with his rival, Leonardo da Vinci.

Studies of a Reclining Male Nude

• Title:               Studies of a Reclining Male Nude
• Artist:             Michelangelo
• Date:              1510
• Material:        Dark red chalk on paper
• Dimensions:  19.3 x 25.9 cm
• Museum:       The British Museum

Michelangelo

• Name:             Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni
• Born:               1475 – Caprese near Arezzo, Republic of Florence
• Died:               1564 (aged 88) – Rome, Papal States (present-day Italy)
• Notable works:
  • David
  • Pietà
  • Moses
  • Sistine Chapel Ceiling
  • Studies of a Reclining Male Nude
  • Young Slave
  • Bearded Slave
  • Rebellious Slave
  • Doni Tondo or Doni Madonna
  • “Leda and the Swan” after Michelangelo

Michelangelo Drawing Sistine Ceiling Study 

Ancient Greece and Rome Collection – British Museum

• Marble figure of a Woman – Spedos Type
• The Parthenon Marbles
• The Parthenon Frieze
• Metopes of the Parthenon
• Pedimental Sculptures of the Parthenon
• The Erechtheion Caryatid
• Lion from the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus
• Bust of Pericles
• Aegina Treasure
• Townley Caryatid
• Bronze Statue of a Youth
• Thalia, Muse of Comedy
• Nereid Monument
• Sarcophagus of Seianti Hanunia Tlesnasa
• Lely Venus – Crouching Aphrodite
• Tomb of Payava
• Marble Portrait Bust of the Blind Poet Homer

The Prints and Drawings Collection – British Museum

• “Studies of a Reclining Male Nude” by Michelangelo
• Newport Castle by J. M. W. Turner
• “Hampstead Heath” by John Constable
• “The Great Wave off Kanagawa” by Katsushika Hokusai
• “Rainstorm Beneath the Summit” by Katsushika Hokusai

Michelangelo Biography

Michelangelo: The Story of a Sculptor

The Case For Nudity

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“Faith in oneself is the best and safest course.”
– Michelangelo

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Photo Credit: [Public domain], via Wikimedia Commons