This carefully articulated study is one of numerous versions of a composition by Michelangelo. The subject has been interpreted as an allegory representing the struggle between the intellect and the passions or as the celebration of the purifying force of love. The nude youth at center is surrounded by vignettes illustrating the vices of gluttony, voluptuousness, greed, wrath, and sloth.
A prime version of this subject, generally considered to be Michelangelo's original, is in the Courtauld Institute, London. It belongs to a group of highly finished drawings called presentation drawings, three of which were known to have been made for the young Roman nobleman Tommaso Cavalieri, beloved by Michelangelo.
Attributed to Giulio Clovio (Grisane, Croatia, 1498–1578 Rome), The Dream of Human Life, after Michelangelo
, Black chalk, some stumping, and some outlines indented for transfer, Purchased by Pierpont Morgan, 1910
, IV, 7a