Freedom of Invention
After they learned drawing as a discipline, many sixteenth-century Italian painters, sculptors, and architects used the practice as a springboard for their imaginations. Formerly a training ground for diligent copying, paper became a brainstorming surface for artists’ experimental and exploratory ideas, swiftly set down with marks and strokes in different media. Michelangelo’s musings, made decades apart on a double-sided sheet, capture the scope of his inventive spirit, encompassing poetic fantasy and architectural design.
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Head of a Putto
Head of a Putto, 1527–37 -
Head of a Young Woman
Head of a Young Woman, 1527–37 -
Holy Family
Holy Family, 1540–1549 -
Seated Madonna and Child and Various Studies
Seated Madonna and Child and Various Studies, ca. 1570–71 -
Figure Studies
Figure Studies, ca. 1609–22 -
Bust of a Youth and Caricature Head of an Old Man, Both in Left Profile
Bust of a Youth and Caricature Head of an Old Man, Both in Left Profile, ca. 1530