Arm Bones

Description

Michelangelo was among the first artists in Europe to attend a human dissection and to adopt anatomical knowledge as a necessity for depicting the human figure. These drawings by Battista Franco reflect the increased—and slightly macabre—interest in the interior workings of the human body inspired in part by Michelangelo’s example. Here, the groupings of arm bones, though rendered accurately, are placed into decorative piles. The odd assembly vacillates between scientific study and a symbolic memento mori, or reminder of death.

Provenance

Sir Thomas Lawrence, London (Lugt 2445, lower left, blind stamped). Samuel Woodburn, London (according to departmental cataloguing sheet, sale 4-8 June 1860, Christie's London; Lugt 2584, not stamped). Boguslaw Jolles, Dresden and Vienna (Lugt 381a, lower left, in blue ink; according to departmental cataloguing sheet, sale 28-31 October 1895, Munich). Prof. Otto Neubauer, Munich and London (according to departmental card). Mr. and Mrs. Claude Cassirer, Cleveland

Arm Bones

Battista Franco

early 1540s

Accession Number

1964.379

Medium

pen and brown ink with incised lines

Dimensions

Sheet: 11.8 x 36.7 cm (4 5/8 x 14 7/16 in.); Secondary Support: 11.8 x 36.7 cm (4 5/8 x 14 7/16 in.)

Classification

Drawing

Museum

The Cleveland Museum of Art

Cleveland, United States

Credit Line

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Claude Cassirer