Michelangelo Buonarotti is best known for his breathtaking paintings on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican City, Rome, but primarily saw himself as a sculptor, with works such as the Madonna of Bruges and La Piéta bringing him fame.
Now, a coal cellar under the Medici Chapels in Florence has revealed charcoal sketches of human figures thought to be the work of the Renaissance artist.
The public eagerly awaits as the drawings will soon be available for viewing, on 15 November.
The story behind the art
Michelangelo is known to have engaged in sculpting for the Medici family in Florence in the 1500s and it is here, that the discovery of his drawings has been made.
Paolo Dal Poggetto, the director of the Medici Chapels who was searching for a new exit for the chapel museums in 1975 in the space that is below the Chapels was fortunate enough to come across several sketches of human figures sitting under two layers of plaster. The room is a small one, used to store coal, and measures 33 feet in length, being 10 feet wide and 8 feet high, and was located via a trapdoor that sat beneath a wardrobe.
The sketches are supposed to have been those done for future pieces of work, one of which is the legs of a statue in the New Sacristy behind the Church of San Lorenzo.
Michelangelo is believed to have drawn the sketches when he hid in this space over a few weeks in 1530 when Pope Clement VII had ordered his death. The Pope was part of the Medici family and had returned to power in Florence after having been cast out by the government for whom the artist had worked. However, the death sentence was withdrawn after two months, allowing Michelangelo to return to Florence.
Florence has long been a symbol of the Renaissance in the 15th and 16th Centuries and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.
The Medicis, bankers by trade, were the powerful force behind the Renaissance in Florence.
The much-awaited viewing
The news is that guided groups of around 4 people will be allowed into the room at a time for 15 minutes for 20 Euros per person.
The chapel museum is reported to have said that the small viewing groups are due to the necessity to alternate between periods of exposure to LED lights and longer periods of darkness.
Only 100 visitors will be allowed per week into the room, which is accessible via a narrow stairway.
Visiting with a purpose
For the avid historian, Italy is a veritable treasure trove of churches, convents, gardens and more to be explored, enjoyed and remembered. While Florence will yield many masterpieces of architecture and art, the spiritual capital of Italy is undoubtedly Rome. A trip to the Vatican City alone makes for an unforgettable day out, with the entrance to the venue lined with shops selling beautifully crafted religious articles such as rosaries, statues, picture cards, prayer books and more.
For the hungry traveller, there are also many quaint little restaurants dotting the passageways leading to St. Peter’s Basilica serving up Italian gastronomic delights and mouth-watering beverages.
Many of the visitors to the Basilica begun by Pope Julius II in 1506 opt to take a tour as part of a guided group to be able to witness all the attractions within the huge space. A fine piece of Renaissance architecture, St. Peter’s Basilica encompasses beautiful Baroque elements.
Within the Basilica one can view the Veil of Veronica, a piece of the True Cross, a part of the Holy Lance and the skull of St. Andrew the Apostle.
In addition to this, around 90 popes are interred in the papal tombs in the Basilica, which also includes the first Pope, St. Peter the Apostle.
Other works that can be viewed inside St. Peter’s Basilica are Michelangelo’s La Piéta, which is a marble sculpture of the Virgin Mary holding the body of Christ that has just been lowered from the cross, the Papal Altar, the Bronze Statue of St. Peter, the Vatican Grottos and the famed Sistine Chapel with Michelangelo’s mesmerising paintings adorning the ceiling.
And certainly, it is not just the Vatican City that can yield places of historic and religious interest in Rome.
One should also visit the Scala Santa or the Holy Steps that stand across the Basilica of St. John, which are said to have been climbed by Jesus before his crucifixion. They were a part of Pontius Pilate’s palace in Jerusalem and were brought to Rome by Emperor Constantine’s mother, St. Helena in the 4th Century when the Roman Empire became Christian.
Also on the tour itinerary, which is often overlooked by visitors, should be a trip to the Basilica of the Holy Cross in Jerusalem. Here, one can see up close, a part of Christ’s cross, a nail that was said to have been on the cross, and two thorns belonging to the crown of thorns placed on Christ’s head and more such relics that have been collected from Mount Calvary where Christ was crucified.
A trip worth taking
This is just a fraction of what is on offer in Italy for the discerning traveller, and now with the soon-to-be-available viewing opportunity of Michelangelo’s sketches in Florence, there is more reason to visit.
Travelling to Italy must include a trip to the trifecta of cities: Rome, Florence and Venice. This is the perfect travel destination where culture marries religion and history.
(Anouk De Silva)