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Michelangelo's first painting

Doug Kerr

Well-known member
A major coup occurred in late 2009 when the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas, acquired The Temptation of Saint Anthony by Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni ("Michelangelo").

This is only one of four "easel painting" by the master known to exist, and is believed to be his earliest serious work, dating from perhaps his age 13.

Here we see Carla regarding the work during a recent visit to the Kimbell:

Kimbell_G01904-01R.jpg

Douglas A. Kerr: Carla regards Michelangelo's The Temptation of Saint Anthony​

There remains some controversy among experts as to whether this is indeed a work of Michelangelo, although there is a broad consensus that it is.

The amount paid by the Kimbell has not been disclosed, but it is reputed to be in the area of USD6M. It is considered to have been a bargain. At the time it became available, other major museums worldwide were becoming very restricted in their acquisitions owing to economic conditions. (Of course, in Texas there is always money for anything worthwhile.)

Under the auspices of the previous owner, a dealer in New York, the work had been restored and analyzed by The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Here we see the work itself:

Kimbell_G01905-01R.jpg

Douglas A. Kerr: Michelangelo's The Temptation of Saint Anthony​

At the museum, a young man nearby said that this work would doubtless have marked the young Michelangelo as a "seriously disturbed young man". It is rather --- fanciful.

These shots were taken with our Canon PowerShot SX110 IS, by existing light. (Yes, the frame is warped - the image was fully corrected for geometric distortion.)

The Kimbell is a lovely museum and very handy for us (it is about 20 miles from our home in Weatherford). We parked at the curb in front of the museum.

A plus is that on the way home (via the most direct route) we can visit Tommy's Hamburger Grill, home of a fabulous veggieburger. The place is a big favorite with students from nearby Texas Christian University (and alumni as well), and of course the place was alive with excitement over their football team's upcoming appearance (today) at the Rose Bowl game.

Best regards,

Doug
 

Cem_Usakligil

Well-known member
Hi Doug,

This painting could have been one by Pieter Breughel the Elder if you ask me. Thanks for sharing the story and the picture.

Cheers,
 

Doug Kerr

Well-known member
Michelangelo is said to have done this work after an engraving by Schongauer, seen here:

444px-Schongauer_St._Antonius.jpeg

Martin Schongauer, St. Antonius von Dämonen gepeinigt (St. Anthony tormented by demons)
Before 1491 (from Wikimedia Commons: PD)​

Best regards,

Doug
 
Am I right to say that it's obvious that the frame is curved (and not the lens is distorted) because of the tiny shadows under the top bar? Just to check if I can see properly the lighting....
 

Cem_Usakligil

Well-known member
So it was derivative work then, not original (heck it's almost a carbon copy)?

I suppose there is hope for us all then...
My feelings exactly. Using an analogy with our day/technology, he just "sampled" (i.e. scanned) the work of somebody else, coloured it and added a background in PS. Then some clarity and "curves", lol

Cheers,
 

Doug Kerr

Well-known member
Hi, Sandrine,

Am I right to say that it's obvious that the frame is curved . . .because of the tiny shadows under the top bar?
That's part of it - I think that shows that the frame is "bowed" out of its plane (assuming that the "canvas" on its stretcher is still planar).

But I think it is also distorted "in plane" (the "ears" at the top drooping, I think).

I am fairly confident that the lens distortion was well-corrected since in the corrected frame (before I cropped it tightly around the piece) the bottom border of the panel the painting is mounted on is quite straight. (I did not correct the other shot, with Carla.)

By the way, I did the geometric distortion correction with PTLens. It has a built-in profile for the PowerShot SX110 IS, which it identified from the Exif metadata, picking up as well from that the focal length involved. It does a nice job.

Best regards,

Doug
 

Doug Kerr

Well-known member
Hi, Cem,

My feelings exactly. Using an analogy with our day/technology, he just "sampled" (i.e. scanned) the work of somebody else, coloured it and added a background in PS. Then some clarity and "curves", lol

In this case, it was much more than that, I think!

Best regards,

Doug
 
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