MICHELANGELO Buonarroti
(b. 1475, Caprese, d. 1564, Roma)

Male Nude, Seen from the Rear

1503-04
Pen and brown ink, 409 x 285 mm
Casa Buonarroti, Florence

This drawing of a male nude almost leaping toward the rear with his back arched like a bow was based on both classical and living models. It has a connection with the compositional study of the Battle of Cascina.

Michelangelo kept the present drawing in his workshop, and reused it some twenty-five years later.