arts. writing. culture.

Was the “Young Archer” Created By a Young Michelangelo?

The statue of a “Young Archer” is on loan to the Metropolitan Museum of Art to gather further expert studies on whether or not this work can be attributed to the Renaissance master Michelangelo.  Though unfinished, broken and with far less attention to detail as his later works, it is still believed that a teenage, learning Michelangelo did in fact create this piece—At least that’s what Metropolitan Museum of Art curator Jim Draper wholeheartedly believes.

Curator of the exhibit, Draper is one of the main advocates for attributing the statue to a young Michelangelo.  His job, in a very imprecise nutshell, is to deduce centuries worth of history based on what’s not physically in front of him as much as what is.  I had the distinct pleasure of listening to him speak yesterday, the day before this lovely statue was revealed to the general public.

Worn by time and weather, the Carrara marble statue used to stand about 4 feet high.  Depicting a young boy of approximately 12 years old, it appears that, though the arms of the piece have been broken off, he was reaching across his chest for a bow from the quiver (carved in the shape of a bear paw) on his back.  Some scholars disagree with Draper’s acceptance of this attribution.  This crossing of the arm over chest with the head turned in the same direction is not in line with his typical sense of contrapposto—the natural stance of a statue such as the artists’ famous “David”.  Providing all of the facts for why this can be believed as a Michelangelo, Draper seemed determined to make a case for why he believes it is.

Much of the arguments for why it is a Michelangelo seem to go back to the fact that this was a work done by a teenager still learning the ropes of sculpture from his mentor Bertoldo di Giavanni.  The statue is undeniably non-proportional as the boy’s thighs are elongated and his knees remain imprecise, but a 14-15 year old youth would likely not understand anatomy in the detail that the grown man who created “David” and other such works knew.  It seems to me anyway that the muscular definition of “David” wouldn’t be as present in the body of a teenage boy, archer or not, and the preciseness isn’t there because he was learning and, as is typical of some of Michelangelo’s pieces, it remained unfinished.

With ten years at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, only time will tell as studies progress about whether or not “Young Archer” can truly be attributed to Michelangelo.  In the meantime, the exhibit opened today, so feel free to go there and decide for yourself!

Other Recent Museum Previews:
American Stories preview: Metropolitan Museum of Art

Be Sociable, Share!

•