Tintoretto produced numerous studies after Michelangelo51²è¹Ý¶ù celebrated but uncompleted sculpture of Samson and the Philistines. This drawing was probably made in Tintoretto51²è¹Ý¶ù workshop after a clay model, as indicated by the stickÌý supporting the back of the central figure. This powerfully modelled figure seems to have been drawn by the master himself, whilst the repetitions might be by an assistant. Michelangelo51²è¹Ý¶ù statue was admired as an example of figura serpentinata (snakelike figure), an ambitiously twisted pose demonstrating artistic skills.
Jacopo Tintoretto and Workshop (?) (Venice 1518-1594 Venice) Studies after Michelangelo51²è¹Ý¶ù Samson and the Philistines Around 1545-50 Black chalk, heightened with white bodycolour, on blue discoloured paper 452 x 273 mm Samuel Courtauld Trust: Princes Gate Bequest, D.1978.PG.99
DisegnoÌýplayed a significant role in Tintoretto51²è¹Ý¶ù artistic practice and Michelangelo was an important model for the workshop, particularly in his development of ³Ù³ó±ðÌýfigura serpentinata,Ìýor ‘serpentine figure’. This drawing displays three studies of a nude male from an identical posterior angle. There is a full figure in the centre, whilst the other two drawings represent only the head, back and upper parts of both arms. An additional head appears half way down the central composition, whose arm grasps the main figure51²è¹Ý¶ù leg. The confidence of the central study is perhaps evidence of Tintoretto51²è¹Ý¶ù hand at work. The chalk is used securely and rapidly; its painterly strokes are blended together and natural highlights from the mid-tone paper combined with lead white heightening add tonal variety and a sense of solidity to the assured male form. The raised hand and left foot, executed in a more sketchy manner, are typical of Tintoretto51²è¹Ý¶ù early paintings. The difference in quality between Samson51²è¹Ý¶ù raised arm and the rest of the body is emphasised by the arm51²è¹Ý¶ù juxtaposition with the weaker, upper left drawing. This study lacks Tintoretto51²è¹Ý¶ù characteristic bulbous anatomy, and shows similarities with drawings after the same sculpture at the Fogg Art Museum in Cambridge (Mass.). The lower right study on the Courtauld sheet is closer to the central composition, although its angular musculature and clearly hatched shading stylistically differentiate the two. For these reasons, it is likely that the peripheral studies are a result of workshop involvement.
The drawing is after Michelangelo51²è¹Ý¶ùÌýSamson and the Philistines,Ìýa sculpture that was intended to stand alongsideÌýDavidÌý(1501-04) in the Piazza della Signoria in Florence. It was conceived by the artist after the Medici51²è¹Ý¶ù second expulsion from the city in 1527, but due to politically tumultuous times, the group was never executed. A clay model, now lost, must have been replicated in bronze soon after its conception. Tintoretto51²è¹Ý¶ù version, as seen here, was most likely made of wax, clay or plaster, implied by the support projecting from the back of the group which is visible in the central drawing.
Faint traces of black chalk in the upper right hand section of the sheet reveal what appears to be a counter proof, offset from another drawing. This, and the splash of reddish brown ink near Samson51²è¹Ý¶ù elbow, suggest that drawings were stored together, intending to be revisited for reference or further study. Tintoretto51²è¹Ý¶ù relationship with Bolognese painter and printmaker Odoardo Fialetti (Bologna 1573—ca.1638 Venice) offers an insight into the crucial role played byÌýdisegnoÌýin the workshop.ÌýFialetti was allegedly told by the Venetian artist to ‘draw and again draw, rightly deeming that drawing was what gave to painting its grace and perfection’.1ÌýA later etching by Fialetti, who had spent time in Tintoretto51²è¹Ý¶ù studio, demonstrates the multiplicity of hands in the workshop and the variety of angles from which this sculpture was studied.
Carlo Ridolfi, Tintoretto51²è¹Ý¶ù biographer, writing almost a century after the artist51²è¹Ý¶ù death, claims that Tintoretto ‘inscribed on the walls of one of his rooms the following work rule: Michelangelo51²è¹Ý¶ù design and Titian51²è¹Ý¶ù colour’.2ÌýThe year in which the artist gained access to Michelangelo51²è¹Ý¶ù compositions is unknown, but clear references to his works in Tintoretto51²è¹Ý¶ù painting suggest a date in the mid-1540s. The muscular, red figure in the lower right corner ofÌýSt. Mark Rescuing the SlaveÌý(1548) strongly recalls the Courtauld study, whilst the reclining figure to his left has been inspired by Michelangelo51²è¹Ý¶ùÌýCrepuscoloÌýin the Medici chapel of San Lorenzo in Florence.3]
Of the approximate 200 drawings to have survived from Tintoretto51²è¹Ý¶ù Venetian studio, no subject was explored so thoroughly asÌýSamson and the Philistines.ÌýFor Tintoretto, the importance of this composition lay in its embodiment of what was later to be termed ³Ù³ó±ðÌýfigura serpentinata. The sculpture allows for an exploration into anatomical torsion and 51²è¹Ý¶ù whilst facilitating the sixteenth century artist51²è¹Ý¶ù growing desire to study figures from all sides. Tintoretto51²è¹Ý¶ù graphic oeuvre is preoccupied with this formula and inventories of his workshop contents include other twisted sculptures such as ³Ù³ó±ðÌýLaocoönÌýand works by Giambologna. Giambologna51²è¹Ý¶ùÌýRape of the SabinesÌý(1583) with its three components and lack of preponderant views was later to become paradigmatic of ³Ù³ó±ðÌýfigura serpentinata.
These studies after Michelangelo51²è¹Ý¶ùÌýSamson and the PhilistinesÌýcan be taken as evidence of the visual dialogue in existence between artists of the sixteenth century. The Courtauld drawing is a reflection of the importance ofÌýdisegnoÌýand its role in the development and dissemination of the ‘modern’ style in the Cinquecento.
LC
Footnotes
1ÌýRidolfi, 1642, 72.
2ÌýRidolfi, 1642, 16.
3ÌýAlthough an earlier date is now presumed, Ridolfi says Tintoretto ‘had brought from Florence the small models that Daniele da Volterra had copied from the Medici tomb figures in San Lorenzo’, Ridolfi, 1642, p. 16.
Bibliography
Braham, H.,ÌýThe Princes Gate Collection, London, 1981, no. 152.
Byam Shaw, J.,ÌýDrawings by Old Masters at Christ Church,ÌýOxford, 1976.
Hass, A., ‘Michelangelo51²è¹Ý¶ù Samson and the Philistine: Conception, Meaning and SubsequentÌýInfluence’,ÌýApollo, Dec. 1993, Vol. 139, no. 382, 384.
Rossi, P.,ÌýI disegni di Jacopo Tintoretto,ÌýFlorence, 1975.
Ridolfi, C.,ÌýThe Life of Tintoretto, and of his children Domenico and MariettaÌý(1642), transl. and eds. C. Engass and R. Engass, University Park, 1984.
Seilern, A.,ÌýCatalogue of Paintings and Drawings at 56 Princes Gate London,Ìý6 vols, vol. 2 (ItalianÌýpaintings and drawings),ÌýLondon, 1955-1971, 46-47.
Whittaker, L., ‘Tintoretto51²è¹Ý¶ù Drawings after Sculpture and his Workshop Practice’ inÌýThe SculptedÌýObject: 1400-1700,Ìýeds. S. Currie and P. Motture, Aldershot, 1997, 177-191.