Sammenkrøbet, siddende dreng

The original was acquired by Catherina the Great and is the only work by this Renaissance master in Russian possession. The copy was acquired from the Academy of Art in Skt. Petersburg (Petrograd) in 1915, two years before the Revolution. The work expresses what is named “antique reception” in art history, the inspiration being taken from a work from antiquity named “Spinario”, depicting a boy trying to pick a thorn out of his foot. Michelangelo does not copy it, but develops it to an original artwork, where the influence from the original as well as the differences can be traced, if you know the “Spinario”.