A large altar piece dominates the exhibition rooms. The upper part of this 'Madonna della Misericiordia' (1515) from the collection of the Museo Nazionale di Villa Guinigi, Lucca has an image of Christ with his arms outstretched representing the crucifixion.
|Fra Bartolomeo, 'Madonna della Misericordia' (1515)|
Elsewhere in the museum, in a dark cellar like long room, a selection of drawings from other Renaissance artists such as Albrecht Dürer are on display from the museum's print room. Included is yet another sketch by Fra Bartolomeo: 'Studies for the upper half of the body and right arm of the crucified Christ seen from behind', executed in black chalk, heightened with yellow on ochre prepared paper (inventory number I 563 N39).
|Fra Bartolomeo, study for Christ (Museum Boijmans van Beuningen, Rotterdam)|
|Charles Ricketts, illustration from The Sphinx (detail)|
A wooden crucifix that belonged to the preacher Savonarola was probably the inspiration for the type of crucified Christ that Fra Bartolommeo developed in his early years. Given the precision with which the tension in the muscles and tendons is depicted, this early drawing must have been made from a live model. Fra Bartolommeo has drawn the right arm a second time, focussing on light and shade.
There seems to be no relation to the paintings and other studies. Can Ricketts have known an image of this drawing?