Exhibitions 2
Michelangelo and His Influence (Queen's Gallery, till 19 April)
Burnt into the memory
Bruce Boucher
The riches of the Royal Collection have proved inexhaustible as source material for exhibitions, ranging from Faberge to Indi- an manuscripts. The current show of draw- ings at the Queen's Gallery revisits the familiar terrain of the Italian Renaissance, but, unlike the memorable presentation of Leonardo's drawings in 1996, Michelangelo and His Influence focuses upon the master's graphic oeuvre and its impact upon his con- temporaries and successors. A score of Michelangelo's most celebrated works have been juxtaposed with 50 copies or studies inspired by them. Michelangelo's distinc- tive draughtsmanship is thus defined, not only by favourite themes, but also by the absorption of his example into the main- stream of Italian art.
It has always been difficult to gauge the full range of Michelangelo's skill as a draughtsman. Even as a relatively young artist, he made periodic bonfires of his drawings and sought to conceal the art behind his art. Yet anything from his hand became a collector's item, and, when pressed for time by major projects, Michelangelo resorted to the medium of drawing as presents for his intimate circle.
The works at the Queen's Gallery have been grouped under several headings that cut across the artist's career: ideal heads; nude studies; allegorical and religious scenes; and studies reflecting Michelange- lo's painting and sculpture. Taken together, these works document Michelangelo's ver- satility as a draughtsman and illustrate the difficulties connoisseurs have faced in dis- tinguishing his hand from lesser ones.
Michelangelo's earliest surviving draw- ings were pen sketches, often executed with a vehemence that makes the lines spring off the sheet. It was a technique acquired during his brief spell as an apprentice to the painter Ghirlandaio, but Michelangelo raised it to a higher plane, coaxing volu- metric shapes from a dense network of cross-hatched lines. It was a style that quickly spread among younger artists like Raphael and Baccio Bandinelli as a num- ber of sheets at the Queen's Gallery attest; yet even Raphael found it difficult to cap- ture the textural subtlety conveyed in Michelangelo's pen sketches.
The same holds true for the most fasci- nating category of Michelangelo's graphic work, his presentation drawings. As highly finished compositions in red or black chalk, they were regarded as works of art in their own right and displayed like paintings in the 16th century. Again, Michelangelo transformed a genre whose origins went back to Leonardo or even Botticelli, creat- ing allegories as intellectually complex as they were highly wrought.
Four are on show at the Queen's Gallery, and they celebrate allegories of desire as embodied by classical myths. Beyond their narrative meaning, what is most astonish- ing about these drawings is the extraordi- nary manual dexterity and tonal nuance achieved by the artist. Each drawing is composed of minute strokes of chalk, seamlessly woven into complex scenes. The result conveys a relief-like quality which Michelangelo prized above all else in both painting and sculpture. These works are complemented by a similar number of reli- gious studies from the latter part of Michelangelo's career, works much more subdued but still powerful in their reduc- tive forms and economy of expression.
Michelangelo and His Influence is round- ed off by a series of little known but often compelling studies after the artist's most famous works: the Sistine ceiling and the Last Judgment, and the Medici Chapel in Florence. They record that same elusive pursuit of form that haunted Michelangelo throughout his career, but the effect of see- ing so many visual quotations all at once brings to mind an observation by Gian Lorenzo Bernini: Michelangelo's figures are so powerful that, once seen, they burn into the memory. The exhibition at the Queen's Gallery and its excellent catalogue by Paul Joannides triumphantly proves Bernini right.
Michelangelo's The Risen Christ', c.1532 ©1998 Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
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