Collection Online as of January 31, 2023

Skeleton

early 1540s

Part of a set. See all set records

Battista Franco

(Italian, c. 1510–1561)

Italy, 16th century

Pen and brown ink; incised

Gift of Mr. and Mrs. Claude Cassirer 1964.380

Location

not on view

Description

Michelangelo was among the first artists in Europe to attend a human dissection and to adopt anatomical knowledge as a necessity for depicting the human figure. These drawings of anatomically accurate skeletons by Battista Franco reflect the increased—and slightly macabre—interest in the interior workings of the human body inspired in part by Michelangelo’s example.

Inscriptions

Inscription

VERSO OF SECONDARY SUPPORT, lower left, in graphite: 4 .

Provenance

Sir Thomas Lawrence, London (Lugt 2445, lower left, blind stamped). Samuel Woodburn, London (Lugt 2584, not stamped); [his sale Christie's, London, 4-8 June 1860] (according to departmental cataloguing sheet). Boguslaw Jolles, Dresden and Vienna (Lugt 381a, lower left, in blue ink); [sale Munich, 28-31 October 1895] (according to departmental cataloguing sheet). Prof. Otto Neubauer, Munich and London (according to departmental card). Mr. and Mrs. Claude Cassirer, Cleveland.

Exhibition history

Year in Review (1964). The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (January 1-31, 1965).

Science within Art. The Cleveland Museum of Art (organizer) (February 13-April 20, 1980).

Master/Apprentice: Imitation and Inspiration in the Renaissance. The Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland, OH (organizer) (October 13, 2019-February 23, 2020).