Three Studies of Angels for a Pendentive (recto)
Medium
red chalk; squared in red chalk (left half), framing lines in red chalk
Dimensions
{"sheet":{"height":0.278,"width":0.353}}
Classification
Drawing
Department
Drawings
Museum
Cleveland Museum of Art
Credit
Andrew R. and Martha Holden Jennings Fund
Accession Number
1989.45.a
Tags
About this artwork
In 1590, a generation after Michelangelo’s death, the dome he designed for Saint Peter’s Basilica in Rome was finally completed. In 1597 Pope Clement VIII commissioned the mosaic decoration of the interior of the dome, choosing Cristoforo Roncalli in part because of his training in Florence, an origin he shared with Michelangelo. Roncalli made this preparatory drawing for the angels that would appear at each side of the four Evangelists in the trapezoidal spaces where the dome meets the supporti...