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

Male Nude, Seen from the Rear (verso)

c. 1504
Black chalk, heightened with white, 270 x 196 mm
Graphische Sammlung Albertina, Vienna

Both sides of this sheet contain studies of individual soldiers for the Battle of Cascina. The recto depicts two nude studies of a man, storming forward, and a man, seen from the right. The verso shows a male nude, seen from the rear.

The male nude on the verso, the lower half of which has unfortunately trimmed, is a study for the lance-bearing soldier in the middle of the back row of the bathers in the cartoon.