Academic Study after Michelangelo’s David, Tuscan School, 51 × 43 cm

Academic Study after Michelangelo’s David, Tuscan School, 51 × 43 cm
Mid-19th century
Pencil on brown paper

Academic study based on the plaster cast of Michelangelo’s David (original marble sculpture, 1501–1504, Galleria dell’Accademia, Florence). The drawing focuses on the head and upper torso of the celebrated statue, rendered with precise tonal gradations and a dense cross-hatching typical of 19th-century academic practice.

The soft modelling of the face and the sculptural handling of light reveal a disciplined approach to the study of classical form. Such exercises were central to artistic training in Tuscan academies, where students copied plaster casts of Renaissance and antique masterpieces to develop their sense of proportion and volume before moving on to drawing from life.

This sheet belongs to one of two portfolios discovered in an old Tuscan property, containing academic studies and copies executed between the 18th century and the first quarter of the 20th century.

Brown paper with fine surface, well preserved, with light traces of studio use.