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This sheet combines several different studies on both sides, which are generally considered to be partly by Michelangelo and partly by pupils. It belongs to the sheets on which Michelangelo is believed to have drawn motifs for his pupils to copy. Such study sheets have a long tradition in workshop practice and were copied by assistants to adopt the formal repertoire of their master.
The two drawings of wrestlers on the recto are commonly regarded as studies for Michelangelo's planned Hercules and Antaeus group, which was to be installed as the sculptural counterpart of the marble David in front of the Palazzo Vecchio.
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