Michelangelo Buonarotti (1475-1564) The Risen Christ c.1532, black chalk

Michelangelo was primarily responsible for reviving the tradition in post-classical art that conceives of the body (and especially the male nude) as the physical manifestation of emotional and spiritual states. A lot of his figures are very heavy but this one - the risen Christ - seems to spring athletically from the tomb: his limbs cover the whole composition and, with a small head, the eye focuses on the torso.

Michelangelo used tiny stippled strokes of chalk to build up the body, which stands out in the implied relief from the plane of the paper, emphasised by the flattened decorative swirl of the shroud.

The care taken in doing this drawing suggests that it was probably meant to be a final work rather than part of a plan for something else.