Not currently on view
In the collection of Cleveland Museum of Art, Cleveland · as of August 2026
FROM THE CLEVELAND MUSEUM OF ART’S CATALOG
Universally considered one of the greatest artists of the Italian Renaissance, Michelangelo devoted four years to painting the vast ceiling fresco in the Sistine Chapel. This preparatory study portrays one of the 20 athletic male nudes, known as ignudi, who serve as supporting figures at each corner of the Old Testament scenes painted down the center of the ceiling. Michelangelo worked out the positioning of the ignudi in red chalk drawings before beginning to paint each section of wet plaster. The energy and monumentality of the figure in red chalk, whose body extends beyond the sheet, suggests the heroic athleticism of Michelangelo’s sculpture.
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Figure Studies for the Sistine Ceiling (verso)
Studies for the Libyan Sibyl (recto); Studies for the Libyan
Study for the Nude Youth over the Prophet Daniel (recto); Fi
Study of Figures from Michelangelo's Last Judgment, Sistine 
Anatomical Studies of a Leg (recto); Study of a Leg (verso)
Anatomical Study of a Knee
Sketches of a Funeral Monument, a Niche with Statues, a Helm
Architectural Study
Taddeo Zuccaro — Standing Nude Man (recto); Three Studies of
Francesco Salviati (Francesco de' Rossi) — Seated Male Nude
Gian Lorenzo Bernini — Study for a Triton (recto); Anatomica
Aniello Falcone — Male Nude with Left Arm Upraised, and a Fu
Poppi (Francesco Morandini) — Studies of the Dead Christ sup
Anonymous, Spanish, School of Seville, 17th century — Life S
Anonymous, Italian, 16th to early 17th century — Study of An
Girolamo Romanino — Nude Male Figure with Upraised Right ArmMichelangelo Buonarroti — Studies for the Libyan Sibyl (rect
Cavaliere d'Arpino (Giuseppe Cesari) — Study of a Male Nude
Giovanni Larciani ("Master of the Kress Landscapes") — Male 
Anonymous, Netherlandish, 16th century — Study of a Standing