Starting in 1503-04, Michelangelo began striving to depict the extended movements and forced torsion of his figures, connecting them to the surrounding space by the painterly use of black chalk. This is still found in the drafts for the first half of the ceiling frescoes for the Sistine Chapel. In 1511, when Michelangelo began decorating the second half of the ceiling, another stylistic change can be observed: the figures are larger, more monumental and more individual and set off markedly from the background. In order to implement this new ideal in a suitable manner in his drawings, Michelangelo turned to a new material, the red chalk.

From 1533 Michelangelo was working on drafts for the Last Judgment fresco. In these drawings he developed a new monumental figural ideal. The massive figures with exaggeratedly bulging muscles are simplified to block-like shapes; they are depicted in highly unusual poses and in complicated twisted postures. The studies for the Last Judgment were executed in black chalk, a material that Michelangelo continued to prefer until the end of his life some thirty years later.

Unfortunately, only a few preparatory drawings for this monumental fresco have been preserved. There have must been numerous other study sheets on which the master prepared individual figures with utmost precision, altering and rejecting them as the final design took place.

Preview	Picture Data	File Info	Comment
	Two Studies of an Outstretched Right Arm (verso) 1508-09 Black chalk, 222 x 198 mm Museum Boijmans Van Beuningen, Rotterdam	627*700 True Color 48 Kb
	Study of Adam 1508-09 Black chalk, 396 x 254 mm Casa Buonarroti, Florence	707*1100 True Color 74 Kb
	Various Studies of Figures and Limbs (verso) c. 1511 Red chalk, leadpoint, 279 x 211 mm Teylers Museum, Haarlem	900*701 True Color 85 Kb
	Various figure Studies (verso) 1511-12 Red chalk over deawing in stylus, 265 x 195 mm Teylers Museum, Haarlem	592*800 True Color 71 Kb
	Study for Adam c. 1510 Red chalk, 193 x 259 mm British Museum, London	859*601 True Color 123 Kb
	Bearded Head in Profile (recto) c. 1508 Black chalk, 435 x 276 mm Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence	707*1100 True Color 77 Kb
	Study for the Head of the Cumeaen Sibyl (recto) 1508-10 Black chalk, 320 x 228 mm Biblioteca Reale, Turin	653*900 True Color 93 Kb
	Studies for the Libyan Sibyl (recto) 1511-12 Red chalk, 289 x 214 mm Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York	666*900 True Color 92 Kb
	Studies for the Libyan Sibyl (verso) 1511-12 Black chalk, 289 x 214 mm Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York	663*900 True Color 77 Kb
	Studies for the Libyan Sibyl - Red chalk on paper, pen and ink, 288 x 194 mm Ashmolean Museum, Oxford	766*1105 True Color 208 Kb
	Head Study of a Smiling Youth (recto) 1508-09 Black chalk, white heightening, 305 x 210 mm Musée du Louvre, Paris	605*900 True Color 90 Kb
	Youthful Nude (verso) 1508-09 Black chalk over drawing in stylus, 305 x 210 mm Musée du Louvre, Paris	589*900 True Color 85 Kb
	Sitting Nude Figures 1508-09 Black chalk, partly reworked in pen and brown ink, 414 x 270 mm Casa Buonarroti, Florence	739*1104 True Color 104 Kb
	Sitting Male Nude (recto) c. 1511 Red chalk, heightened with white, 279 x 211 mm Teylers Museum, Haarlem	688*900 True Color 86 Kb
	Male Head in Profile and Leg Studies (recto) 1511-12 Red chalk, 265 x 195 mm Teylers Museum, Haarlem	594*800 True Color 66 Kb
	Nude Study of a Sitting Youth (recto) 1511-12 Red chalk heightened with white, 272 x 192 mm Graphische Sammlung Albertina, Vienna	639*900 True Color 93 Kb
	Nude Study 1510-11 Chalk Teylers Museum, Haarlem	629*900 Grayscale 136 Kb
	Study of a Man 1510-11 Chalk Musée de Poitiers, Poitiers	667*900 Grayscale 138 Kb
	Compositional Sketch for "Judith and Holofernes" c. 1508 Pen and ink, 405 x 225 mm Teylers Museum, Haarlem	1200*692 True Color 127 Kb
	Four Studies for the Crucified Haman (recto) c. 1512 Red chalk, 406 x 207 mm British Museum, London	575*1100 True Color 107 Kb
	Five Studies for the Figure of Haman (recto) c. 1512 Red and black chalk, 251 x 202 mm Teylers Museum, Haarlem	648*800 True Color 62 Kb
	Two Sitting Figures (verso) 1508-10 Black chalk, 320 x 228 mm Biblioteca Reale, Turin	900*676 True Color 79 Kb
	Study of a Seated Woman - Chalk Musée Condé, Chantilly	672*887 Grayscale 149 Kb
	Various Studies (verso) 1533-34 Black chalk, 398 x 282 mm Casa Buonarroti, Florence	784*1100 True Color 111 Kb
	Study for the Last Judgment 1533-34 Black chalk, 192 x 287 mm Galleria degli Uffizi, Florence	900*628 True Color 82 Kb
	Studies for a Flying Angel (recto) 1534-36 Black chalk, 407 x 272 mm British Museum, London	743*1100 True Color 135 Kb
	Studies for a Flying Angel (verso) 1534-36 Black chalk, 407 x 272 mm British Museum, London	743*1100 True Color 123 Kb
	Study of a Male Nude (recto) 1534-36 Black chalk on brown paper, 242 x 182 mm Teylers Museum, Haarlem	602*800 True Color 81 Kb
	Male Nude, Seen from the Rear (verso) 1534-36 Black chalk on brown paper, 242 x 182 mm Teylers Museum, Haarlem	602*800 True Color 78 Kb
	Kneeling Male Nude, Seen from the Rear 1534-36 Black chalk, 269 x 168 mm Casa Buonarroti, Florence	525*820 True Color 75 Kb
	Male Figures 1530s Chalk Musée du Louvre, Paris	955*610 Grayscale 126 Kb
	Sonnet with a Caricature c. 1510 Pen and brown ink, 283 x 200 mm Casa Buonarroti, Florence	624*900 True Color 78 Kb