Michelangelo's Dream at the Courtauld Gallery
By STAN PARCHIN
November 20, 2009
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| Michelangelo Buonarotti (Italian, 1475-1564). The Dream of Human Life (ca. 1533). Black chalk on paper. 39.4 x 27.7 cm (15.5 x 10.9 in.). Courtauld Gallery. |
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| Michelangelo Buonarotti (Italian, 1475-1564). The Punishment of Tityus (1532). Black chalk on paper. 19 x 33 cm (7.5 x 13 in.). Royal Collection © 2008 Her Royal Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. |
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| Michelangelo Buonarotti (Italian, 1475-1564). A Bacchanal of Children (ca. 1533). Red chalk on paper. 27.1 x 38.5 cm (10.7 x 15.2 in.). Royal Collection © 2008 Her Royal Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. |
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| Albrecht Dürer (German, 1471-1528). Six Nude Figures (1515). Pen and brown ink on paper. 27 x 21.1 cm (10.6 x 8.3 in.). Städel Museum, Frankfurt. |
The Dream of Human Life (ca. 1533) by Michelangelo Buonarotti (1475-1564), a superb black chalk drawing acquired by London's Courtauld Gallery in 1978, is regarded by many art historians as one of the Italian High Renaissance's most exceptional works on paper. The popular yet somewhat enigmatic image is the subject of Michelangelo's Dream (February 18-May 16, 2010), the gallery's much anticipated exhibition that explores the famous drawing's creation and meaning within the context of related works by the artist and his contemporaries. Letters and poems by Michelangelo help to elucidate the work's abstruse symbolism.
Michelangelo's Dream draws upon the holdings of the Royal Collection of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II; the British Museum, London; the Devonshire Collection, Chatsworth; Casa Buonarotti, Florence; the Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana, Rome; and the Städel Museum, Frankfurt.
The Dream of Human Life
Michelangelo's Dream of Human Life, executed at the height of the artist's career, was a presentation drawing he most likely gave to Tommaso de’ Cavalieri, a close friend. Having first met in Rome in the winter of 1532, they remained intimate until the master's death. Michelangelo presented the Roman nobleman with a series of allegorical works on paper. The Dream, probably part of that set, is exhibited alongside The Punishment of Tityus (1532), The Fall of Phaeton (1533), A Bacchanal of Children (1533) and The Rape of Ganymede (ca. 1533).
Soon after its completion, The Dream of Human Life gained celebrity among circles of Renaissance artists and collectors; it was copied numerous times. A modified version of the drawing, painted by one of Michelangelo's followers after 1533, resides in London's National Gallery.
The exact meaning of The Dream has eluded art historians for centuries. An idealized nude male, awakened by the trumpet blares of an angel, is surrounded by groups of worldly vices representing Gluttony, Lust, Avarice, Anger and Sloth. Envy and Pride are not easily discernible in Michelangelo's drawing. Some scholars interpret the angel's call to the youth as an inducement to renounce his life of sin and contemplate his ultimate salvation.
Rebirth and Correspondence
Michelangelo's Dream discusses rebirth, dreaming and Man's earthly limitations. As such, part of the installation is devoted to the artist's graphic renderings of the Resurrection of Christ. His religious images are complemented by the works of Albrecht Dürer (1471-1528), Giorgio Vasari (1511-1574) and others.
Rarely seen autograph letters and poems addressed by Michelangelo to Cavalieri, loaned by the Casa Buonarotti and the Vatican Library to the Courtauld Gallery, provide insight into the symbolism of The Dream of Human Life and the artist's presentation drawings.
Sources
Chapman, Hugo. Michelangelo Drawings: Closer to the Master (exh. cat.). New Haven: Yale University Press, 2005.
Joannides, Paul. Michelangelo and His Influence: Drawings from Windsor Castle (exh. cat.). Washington, D.C.: National Gallery of Art, 1996, 54-81.