Studies of reclining male nudes

The figures in this drawing are loosely derived from the tombs designed by Michelangelo in the Medici Chapel, San Lorenzo, Florence. The mount on which this drawing is laid down is the same as that of five other drawings from the Rugby collection by, or attributed to, Cades (see lots 51, 100, 101, 137 and 138), and its style does indeed suggest that it is by Cades. This attribution, however, has not been endorsed by Maria Teresa Caracciolo on the basis of a digital photograph.