School of Michelangelo

Martelli Collection, Florence (bears their numbering: No. 83, No.56, No.82);
probably William Young Ottley;
H. Baron de Triqueti (two bear his mark L.1304);
E. Calando (two bear his mark L.837)
E. Calando fils (his inventory numbers: 2132I; as Andrea del Sarto, 2133 wrongly transcribed in pencil on the back of the new mount)

All stuck down on mount. A; small hole near top left corner; C: small holes in neck and along right edge; stains around nose.
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The identification of the origin of the distinctive red ink numbers on these drawings was made by Nicholas Turner and Paul Joannides in an article on Michelangelo drawings in the Prado.  On the basis of entries in the Ottley sale catalogue of 1804, they suggest that the provenance was the Martelli family of Florence, from whom Ottley might have acquired the drawings directly.¹ 

Turner and Joannides publish several fragmentary sheets with profile studies like the present ones as works of the studio of Michelangelo.  Although it is difficult to attribute the studies to a particular pupil, they believe Antonio Mini is a candidate for some.  The studies of heads are generally thought to date from the time of Michelangelo's work on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, whereas those of limbs (see the following lot) are later, from the time of the Last Judgement.  No. 83 in this lot seems to be by the same hand as their fig. 6., while nos. 56 and 82 appear to be by different hands.

1.  N. Turner and P. Joannides, 'Some Drawings by Michelangelo and his circle in the Prado', in Boletín del Museo del Prado, vol. XXI, no. 39, 2003, pp. 8-23