Existing comment:
Divine Heads and Portraiture
Michelangelo's love for the handsome, aristocratic young men he befriended was an open secret among his contemporaries. He produced beautifully finished drawings (disegni finiti) of bust-length figures for intimate friends, which Giorgio Vasari called teste divine, or "divine heads," in his 1568 biography. Apart from the drawing technique, the most striking aspect of these representations is the highly decorative detail on the figures' headdresses and costumes. Though they are largely the artist's invention, these fantastical passages were inspired in part by antique gems and paintings.
The "divine heads" provide a contrast to Michelangelo's sole surviving large portrait drawing. It depicts a young nobleman, Andrea Quaratesi, with a remarkable psychological intensity. According to Vasari, Michelangelo "abhorred making a resemblance true to life, unless the subject was of extraordinary beauty." |