Drawing of Doorway and Window-opening

Michelangelo Buonarroti (after)

Summary

A reproduction produced by the Vasari Society of a drawing by Michelangelo. In the left of the composition is an architectural structure with a doorway or tablet in the centre, columns on either side and a pediment on the top. Above the pediment is a coat of arms, which appears to feature the emblem of crossed swords. To the right are a few, unidentifiable markings. Text from the accompanying booklet produced by the Vasari Society: "Nos. 6, 7 MICHAELANGELO (b. 1475, d. 1564) TWO DRAWINGS OF DOORWAYS AND WINDOW-OPENINGS British Museum, 1859-6-25-550. Pen and bistre. 27.4 x 20.6 cm. (10 3/4 x 8 1/8 in.) I am unable to identify these drawings with any specific buildings. The tiara and cross-keys behind the escutcheon on No. 6, and the escutcheon with the Medici palle, surmounted by what apparently are also meant for cross-keys on No. 7, point (at least in the case of No. 7), to a building commissioned by a Medici Pope. Possibly they are ideas for the Laurentian Library, built in 1523 - 1526 for Clement VII. In any case the drawings are characteristic examples of Michelangelo’s manner. The flat pediments, the returned architraves in the frieze, and the deep corona, are familiar features in his design, evidence of his constant search after fresh modes of expression in architecture. Of the two sides to Michelangelo’s character, the terribilità on the one hand, and an intensely subtle and sensitive refinement on the other, it is the latter that is dominant in his architecture. Where we might have expected some Cyclopean design, we find an almost excessive study of the nuances of abstract form, slight but profoundly considered variations from the accepted types of neo-classic, and it is this that gives its very peculiar interest to Michelangelo’s designs in architecture. REGINALD BLOMFIELD."