''Epifania'' () is a
cartoon
A cartoon is a type of visual art that is typically drawn, frequently Animation, animated, in an realism (arts), unrealistic or semi-realistic style. The specific meaning has evolved, but the modern usage usually refers to either: an image or s ...
or full-scale drawing in black chalk by
Michelangelo
Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (6March 147518February 1564), known mononymously as Michelangelo, was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was inspir ...
, produced in Rome around 1550–1553. It is tall by wide, and is made up of 26 sheets of paper. The cartoon forms part of the collection of the
British Museum
The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...
in London.
Subject matter
The composition shows the
Virgin Mary
Mary was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Saint Joseph, Joseph and the mother of Jesus. She is an important figure of Christianity, venerated under titles of Mary, mother of Jesus, various titles such as Perpetual virginity ...
, with the Christ child sitting between her legs. An adult male figure to the right, probably
Saint Joseph
According to the canonical Gospels, Joseph (; ) was a 1st-century Jewish man of Nazareth who was married to Mary, the mother of Jesus, and was the legal father of Jesus.
Joseph is venerated as Saint Joseph in the Catholic Church, Eastern O ...
, is pushed away by Mary. In front of him is the infant
John the Baptist
John the Baptist ( – ) was a Jewish preacher active in the area of the Jordan River in the early first century AD. He is also known as Saint John the Forerunner in Eastern Orthodoxy and Oriental Orthodoxy, John the Immerser in some Baptist ...
. The adult figure standing to Mary's left is unidentified, as are other figures only just visible in the background. Michelangelo repeatedly changed the composition and its forms, as is apparent in the cartoon's alterations. The composition was originally thought to be of the
Three Kings
In Christianity, the Biblical Magi ( or ; singular: ), also known as the Three Wise Men, Three Kings, and Three Magi, are distinguished foreigners who visit Jesus after his birth, bearing gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh in homage to hi ...
, which may be the reason for the title, but is now understood as referring to Christ's siblings mentioned in the Gospels (explained by
Saint Epiphanias—another possible source for the title—as Joseph's sons by a previous marriage, and hence Mary's stepsons, leaving their marriage unconsummated—hence her pushing Joseph away—and
Mary forever a virgin).
History
Michelangelo's biographer
Ascanio Condivi
Ascanio Condivi (1525 – 10 December 1574) was an Italian painter and writer. Generally regarded as a mediocre artist, he is primarily remembered as the biographer of Michelangelo.
Biography
The son of Latino Condivi and Vitangela de' Ric ...
used this cartoon for an unfinished painting. A 19th-century Scottish collector, John Malcolm of Poltalloch, bought the cartoon for only £11 0s 6d. and, on John's death in 1893, his son
John Wingfield Malcolm gave it to the
British Museum
The British Museum is a Museum, public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human cu ...
.
[BM PD 1895-9-15-518.] Parliament voted £25,000 to purchase the rest of his collection for the museum two years later (). The cartoon is on display in Gallery 90 of the Museum.
Notes
See also
*
List of works by Michelangelo
The following is a list of works of painting, sculpture and architecture by the Italian Renaissance artist Michelangelo. Lost works are included, but not commissions that Michelangelo never made. Michelangelo also left many drawings, sketches, an ...
*
Michelangelo
Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (6March 147518February 1564), known mononymously as Michelangelo, was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was inspir ...
References
P. Barenboim (with Arthur Heath), ''Michelangelo’s Moment: The British Museum Madonna'' (LOOM, Moscow, 2018)*J.A. Gere and N. Turner, ''Drawings by Michelangelo in the British Museum'', exhibition catalogue (London, The British Museum Press, 1975)
*M. Hirst, ''Michelangelo and His Drawings'' (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1988)
*M. Royalton-Kisch, H. Chapman and S. Coppel, ''Old Master Drawings from the Museum'', exhibition catalogue (London, The British Museum Press, 1996)
*J. Wilde, ''Italian drawings in the Department of Prints and Drawings'', 2 (London, The British Museum Press, 1953)
External links
The British Museum's online description of Michelangelo's cartoonVideo of the British Museum's conservation of Epifania
{{British Museum
Prints and drawings in the British Museum
Drawings by Michelangelo
1550s drawings