On February 18th 1564, Michelangelo Buonarroti died at the age of 88 just three weeks before his 89th birthday. He was a genius, universally recognized as one of the major artists of all time who influenced not only Italian culture, but the entire world. His last request was to be buried in his beloved Florence, so nowadays those who want to honor the great Master can find his grave at the Basilica di Santa Croce.
For the 450th anniversary of his death, an extraordinary exhibition will celebrate his work in Rome at the Musei Capitolini (Capitoline Museums), located in Piazza del Campidoglio, the very same square Michelangelo designed and that made him famous around the world. “Michelangelo. Incontrare un artista universale” features 150 pieces, 70 of which are signed by the Tuscan-born artist.
Michelangelo Buonarroti
Michelangelo Buonarroti
They have been sent from many Italian and foreign cultural institutions, among these the Buonarroti house, the Uffizi in Florence, the Accademia in Venice, the Vatican Museums, the Biblioteca Reale in Turin and the London British Museum.
Of course some of his main masterpieces will be missing because of the obvious impossibility of transporting them, above all the Sistine Chapel frescos. But for the first time many of his pieces will be shown one next to the other allowing the viewer to have a full experience of Michelangelo’s work and to compare his pieces at a glance.
From painting to sculpture, to poetry and architecture, the four genres adopted by Michelangelo will be displayed in nine sections focusing on the themes of his art: a series of thematic “opposites” used to highlight the difficulties experienced by Michelangelo “the man” and Michelangelo “the artist” while inventing and creating his artworks. Concepts such as ancient and modern, life and death, victory and imprisonment, rules and freedom, earthly and spiritual love, will be ideally connected in one sole itinerary in which Michelangelo’s art will be analyzed by comparing drawings, paintings, sculpture and architectural models, as well as select letters and poetry.
As visitors step into the museum, the first piece to greet them is actually also of Michelangelo’s first works, the Madonna della Scala, which the Master completed when he was just 15 years old while attending the Garden of San Marco, the academy of arts patronized by Lorenzo the Magnificent, at the time ruler of the city of Florence.
In the bas-relief, 60 centimeters high and 40 wide, the artist represented a beautiful, delicate, ethereal but at the same time powerful Madonna: wrapped in a long veil covering her head, she holds Jesus and is sitting at the bottom of a stairway. In this piece is reflected the passion Michelangelo had for Donatello’s work and at the same time the passing over and breaking into a new and personal view of art.
But aside from the masterpieces, the exhibition focuses also on Michelangelo’s creative process through a large number of outstanding sketches and preparatory drawings that show how the first spark of an idea was conceived, developed and eventually brought to life in a sculpture or painting. Among the most interesting studies is the Study for Leda’s head, considered one of the most beautiful paintings ever realized, and the wooden model San Lorenzo in Florence, which was never actually sculpted.
In addition to all this, the exhibition satisfies curious visitors by revealing anecdotes about Michelangelo’s life and stories about how his masterpieces were born. For example, for the preparatory studies for the lost work “Leda with the swan”, Michelangelo used a model, Antonio Mini, one of his apprentices, following the custom of the time of using male models to realize female portraits.
The exhibition will run from May 27th until September 14th. It might be a good excuse for a summer trip to Italy!
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