Studies after Michelangelo
mid-19th century
Medium
Graphite
Dimensions
Sheet: 5 5/16 × 8 1/2 in. (13.5 × 21.6 cm)
Classification
Drawings
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Gift of Eric Carlson, in honor of James Draper, 2013
Accession Number
2013.608.3
Tags
Art Historical Context
In the intimate world of 19th-century sketchbooks, Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux's *Studies after Michelangelo* (mid-19th century shines as a testament to artistic reverence. This delicate graphite drawing on a modest 5 5/16 × 8 1/2-inch sheet captures Carpeaux's careful copies of Michelangelo Buonarroti's iconic figures—powerful male nudes and women—reflecting the French sculptor's deep admiration for the Renaissance master's mastery of the human form. Carpeaux, a figure in Second Empire France known for his dynamic, realist sculptures like *Ugolino and His Sons*, honed his skills through such exerc...
About the Artist
Jean-Baptiste Carpeaux|Michelangelo Buonarroti · 1827–1875
Carpeaux's exuberant work was a decisive break from Neoclassical art. He won the Prix de Rome in 1854 and received many portrait bust commissions from the court. His most famous sculpture group is 'La Danse' (1869) made for the Paris Opéra. So bold is its message of bacchanalian revelry that it was vandalized in protest. French artist.