tour 23 of 24
Michelangelo's drawings
Studies for the Last Judgement by Michelangelo, black chalk drawing
This study for the Last
Judgement is one of only six surviving
studies for the fresco. It is not easy to decipher at first glance.
The earliest drawings on the sheet are the studies in soft, and now
somewhat rubbed, black chalk: a seated male looking downwards at
the lower centre, and a small-scale version of the same pose, drawn
to the right of centre with the sheet turned upside
down.
The upper part of the
larger figure is overlaid by studies for a three-tiered group of
figures who appear on the right side of the finished composition.
The artist began by drawing the three figures at the top left; they
correspond to the saints grouped immediately to the right of Christ
in the fresco but differ in detail. In the drawing two of the
saints crane forward to watch the action below, whereas in the
fresco almost all the figures close to Christ on the right are
focused attentively on his
actions.
The middle band of
figures in the drawing corresponds to the group of Martyrs in the
painting. The general composition of this group matches that of the
fresco fairly closely. In the group below, the leftmost angel is
shown throttling one of the sinners with both hands. The remaining
part of the sheet is filled with studies of individual
figures.