“These drawings are very interesting because the original painting is as good as lost in that particular area” (Piantoni
1978, p. 11).
But then, in the Neoclassical era Michelangelo’s art, with its accentuation of volume, its anatomical muscularity
and its sublime subject matter, was the object of a fully-fledged cult on the part of those painters who devoted their
energies to the depiction of the heroic and the “terrible”. Indeed, all of the greatest Italian Neoclassical painters
inevitably tested their mettle against the Last Judgement, from Giuseppe Bossi, probably as early as in the closing
years of the 18th century, to Tommaso Minardi well into the new century. While Camuccini himself, together
with his brother Pietro, submitted a proposal to the Accademia di San Luca in 1821 suggesting that the fresco be
cleaned with cooked bread dough. The project fell through amid much controversy, because when the members of
the Accademia examined the first small area that Pietro had cleaned, they discovered that the operation had in fact
involved the use of paint brushes and that the original had been touched up in some way. After that, Michelangelo
was, thankfully, left in peace.
Francesco Leone
27. Head of a condemned man, expressing his inner despair
red chalk on ivory card
440 x 321 mm
Literature:
Vincenzo Camuccini (1771 - 1844). Bozzetti e disegni dallo studio dell’artista, a cura di G. Piantoni De
Angelis, Roma, Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Moderna, De Luca, 1978, n. 15 pag. 12.