Studies for a Flying Angel by Michelangelo

Michelangelo employed the same preparatory habits for The Last Judgement fresco that he used while painting the ceiling frescos. Several studies have survived that demonstrate his habit of sketching a figure in the position envisioned, before copying this outline on to fresh plaster and then painting. He studied the movement of muscles that occurred in the chosen pose, as well as the perspective and shading necessary to portray the body in that position realistically.

This study is for the flying angel that appears in the right lunette of the fresco, moving towards the colunm that several angels are straining to hold. Michelangelo has drawn the main figure, then used the corners of the sheet of paper for additional considerations of the left arm and torso in order to create the perfect form.

The theme of The Last Judgement as Michelangelo has handled it, with the mass of flying, tumbling, twisting bodies, gave the artist an ideal arena to explore the varying movements and postures of a body in motion. Michelangelo once claimed that he never used the same pose twice, and the huge variety of figures in The Last Judgement ,would seem to back up this clai1n.