The Young Slave

Across from the Awakening Slave is the so-called "Young Slave." This figure, though somewhat more clearly delineated, seems to exist in a world unto itself: with its face buried in its left arm and the right one wrapped around the hips. The confinement of the block is narrow, and slightly bent knees greatly accentuate contrapposto pose. Demonstrated here is an insight into human anatomy with the display of a bent biceps' lines and triceps' care given to by nature of the creases.

The Young Slave has legs slightly bent; his left arm is raised to half cover his face. His right arm is bent and hidden behind his back creating a spiral in the manner of Michelangelo's painted Ignudi on the Sistine Ceiling. While the upper part of the figure is entirely worked out from the block of marble, the head is but sparingly defined, and there are tool marks all over, typical of Michelangelo's method of work with the chisel.

A youthful face just emerging, set against a powerful body. Michelangelo always carved from the front towards the back, as evidenced in the Young Slave struggling to free himself from within the stone, which still bears rough chisel marks laid down by large teeth.