On the Meaning of a Late Michelangelo Drawing

Author(s): Heinrich Pfieffer S. J.

Source: The Art Bulletin, Vol. 48, No. 2 (Jun., 1966), p. 227
Published by: College Art Association
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227

ON THE MEANING OF A LATE

theme, also from the story of Christ's appearances, namely that of the

MICHELANGELO DRAWING*

doubting Apostle Thomas thrusting his fingers into the wounds of the
resurrected Lord.

HEINRICH PFEIFFER, S.J.

Among the Michelangelo drawings in the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford

is one which has unanimously been considered until now to represent an

Annunciation to the Virgin (Fig. 1).1 It appears to me, however, to de-

pict an entirely different scene, namely the appearance of the resurrected, transfigured Christ to his mother on Easter morning.

The following arguments may be given in support of this interpretation:

1) The seated figure at the left in the drawing is a woman of mature

years and not a young girl, as Mary is represented in scenes of the An-

nunciation. This fact has already been pointed out but has not been
correctly interpreted. An appropriate description was given by Dussler

when he spoke of the woman as having a "matronly appearance."2

2) The attitude of the seated woman toward the figure hovering before her, as the drawing shows it, must be interpreted as one of gazing
rather than listening. In an Annunciation, on the contrary, it would be
important to show Mary listening to the angel and not simply looking,
as she does here.

3) On close examination the viewer-the author was able to see the

original some years ago and to convince himself of this-can ascertain
on the right palm of the hovering figure an indication of the nail wound.

This appears to me to be a sure basis for the proposed interpretation. It

is true that the remaining wounds on the left hand, feet, and side of the
figure can not be made out with certainty because of the sketchy quality

of the drawing which suggests more than it states. But one can clearly
perceive, even in the reproduction, the timid groping of the left hand of
the seated woman toward the right hand of the hovering figure. Without

reference to the wounds of the Passion this hesitant gesture would have

In addition to these arguments we may point out that Dussler's description of the drawing, in which we read of "geistiger Verklairtheit und

zartester Spannung,"8 is really more appropriate to the subject of Christ

appearing to his mother than to the Annunciation.

As James D. Breckenridge has shown,4 there is, in fact, an iconographical type of Christ appearing to his mother on Easter morning
that is very closely related to the representation of the Annunciation.
Michelangelo's drawing with its hovering Christ is one example of this

iconographical variant. In his article, Breckenridge illustrates two

others.5 As early as 1520, and therefore earlier than our drawing, an
unnamed Antwerp Mannerist painted a Christ appearing to his mother
that is reminiscent of an Annunciation. In this painting, too, Christ is

depicted as a figure hovering in the air. The second picture mentioned

by Breckenridge, which shows the same arrangement, was painted by

Francesco Albani almost a hundred years after Michelangelo's drawing.
Breckenridge sees the basis for the close similarity between this type of
Christ appearing to his mother and representations of the Annunciation

in the close inner connection of these events in the life of Mary. The
Incarnation, which begins with the Annunciation of the Archangel, is
only fulfilled with the Resurrection of Christ.6 That artists have indeed
recognized this relationship is demonstrated by a painting by Filippino
Lippi in the Alte Pinakothek in Munich.7 Here we find both scenes, the

appearance of Christ to his mother on Easter morning and the Annunciation, juxtaposed, one above the other. The similarity of the two icono-

graphical types also explains why this drawing by Michelangelo has

been incorrectly interpreted for such a long time as an Annunciation

and not, as I hope to have demonstrated, as Christ appearing to his

mother.8

no meaning. It is the transfigured Christ, and not the angel Gabriel, who

appears to Mary. The hesitant gesture recalls a related iconographical

Berchmanskolleg, Pullach, Germany

* The author first arrived at the present iconographical interpretation while preparing
a report for a seminar given by Prof. Wilhelm Boeck in Tiibingen some years ago.

by another detail, namely that the figure interpreted here as the Risen Christ lifts
his drapery with his left hand, a gesture which can only be understood as the bar-

Prof. Luitpold Dussler encouraged me to publish it and Prof. Erwin Panofsky expressed sustained interest in the work. In addition to my special thanks to them for
their friendly advice and generous help, I also wish to thank my former teachers at
Tiibingen, Prof. Boeck and Prof. Georg Weise.

1 Cf. K. T. Parker, Catalogue of the Collection of Drawings in the Ashmolean Museum, II, Italian Schools, Oxford, 1956, No. 345, 182f., pl. XCVI; L. Dussler, Die

Zeichnungen des Michelangelo, Berlin, 1959, Cat. No. 205, 129, fig. 144.
2 Dussler, loc.cit., 129.

3 Ibid. Furthermore, Prof. Panofsky has pointed out to me that this thesis is supported

ing of the wound in his side.

4 James D. Breckenridge, ""'Et prima vidit': The Iconography of the Appearance of

Christ to his Mother," AB, 39, 1957, 9ff. and esp. pp. 26f. I am also indebted to the
suggestions of Frl. Dr. Haug, who has just published the article "Erscheinungen
Christi," Reallexikon zur Deutschen Kunstgeschichte, V, Munich, 1966, 1350-61.

5 Loc.cit., figs. 14, 15.

6 Loc.cit., 26.

7 Cf. Alfred Scharf, Filippino Lippi, Vienna, 1935, pl. 56, fig. 79.
8 This note was translated by R. B. Franciscono.

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