Twenty-five rare drawings by Michelangelo for the Sistine Chapel will be on display in the United States at the Muscarelle Museum of Art at the College of William & Mary. These drawings will be on view from March 6th to May 28th as part of an exhibition titled “Michelangelo: The Genesis of the Sistine,” coinciding with the artist’s 550th birthday.
“The Genesis of the Sistine” will include 25 of Michelangelo’s original sketches, including one work believed to be the artist’s first version of the Sistine Chapel ceiling, which is making its debut in the United States. Commissioned by Pope Julius II, the Sistine Chapel ceiling was painted between 1508 and 1512 as part of a comprehensive renovation of the chapel. Michelangelo was initially reluctant to take on the project, primarily considering himself a sculptor rather than a painter.
Near the end of his life in 1564, Michelangelo destroyed most of his drawings. According to the museum, the artist created hundreds of drawings for the Sistine Chapel, but less than 50 survive. Half of these will be on view in the upcoming exhibition. Among the other drawings are four preparatory sketches for another fresco in the chapel known as The Last Judgement, completed nearly 30 years after the Sistine Chapel ceiling.
“‘Michelangelo: The Genesis of the Sistine’ offers an unprecedented glimpse into the mind of one of the most famous artists in the world, revealing the unfiltered thoughts, ideas, struggles, and breakthroughs that shaped one of history’s greatest masterpieces—the frescoes of the Sistine Chapel ceiling,” said curator Adriano Marinazzo in a press statement.
The exhibition environment will evoke the interior of the Sistine Chapel, according to the curator, with blue gallery walls reflecting the chapel’s heavenly backdrop and gold accents on doors that echo the colors used in Michelangelo’s frescoes. The lighting throughout will be subdued to preserve the artwork and “to enhance the sense of stepping into Michelangelo’s private artistic space,” Marinazzo said.
In total, “The Genesis of the Sistine” will feature 38 artworks, lithographs, and historical objects to paint a broader picture of the artist. These objects include a portrait of Michelangelo by his contemporary Giuliano Bugiardini, displayed for the first time in the United States, and a previously unseen letter from Francesco Granacci detailing recruitment challenges for the chapel’s decoration.
To curate this exhibition, Marinazzo and the Muscarelle Museum needed to coordinate with the Italian government and various Italian museums, including the Gallerie degli Uffizi, Casa Buonarroti, and the Musei Reali, all of which contributed pieces. Many of the drawings, reported Artnet News, are only sanctioned to leave Italy for 12 weeks every few years.
