Finally in November the Secret Room of Michelangelo reopens to the public under the New Sacristy, in the Medici complex of the Church of San Lorenzo.
Discovered in 1975 by Professor Paolo Dal Poggetto, in the walls of the room we can admire the magnificent charcoal drawings made by Michelangelo in 1530, during the three months in which he had to hide, helped by the Prior of the Basilica of San Lorenzo. The story tells, in fact, that Michelangelo had been threatened with death because from 1525 to 1527 he had helped the Florentine Republic to defend itself from the papal army, in favor of the return of the Medici to power, designing a new wall around the Church of San Miniato al Monte that could have prevented military attacks
The drawings made by Michelangelo on the walls of the room show details of faces and anatomical parts that the artist will then use in subsequent projects such as the Apollo-David kept at the Bargello Museum.
The Secret Room is accessed through an open passage inside the New Sacristy in which Michelangelo carved - as an ornament of the tombs of the Medici and as a symbol of the "cycle of life" - five sculptures: Day, Night, Dawn, Dusk and the Madonna and Child.
On the ground floor, the Lorena Crypt has been recently reopened from which, through a window, the monumental tomb of Cosimo il Vecchio (grandfather of Lorenzo il Magnifico), can be admired. The so-called "Pater Patriae" commissioned to Brunelleschi both the Church and Convent of San Lorenzo. Two months ago, a new route was inaugurated to exit the Medici Monumental Complex. The path, designed by the team of Architect Fisiolo Zermani of Parma, was defined by the Architect himself as "...a path from darkness to the light of today’s city".
Check out other things to do in Florence:
- Florence more and more suitable for cycling
- Florence: The place where you eat best in the world (according to tourists)
- Spring in Italy: flowers, sun and good food
- What's better than the Italian "Dolce Vita"?
- What about an Italian language vacation?
- La via Romea del Chianti
Scuola Leonardo da Vinci Florence
Latest posts by Scuola Leonardo da Vinci Florence (see all)
- A WEEK WITH GIORGIO VASARI (JANUARY 13-17, 2025) - October 11, 2024
- An extraordinary occasion unfolds in Florence as the Museum of Fashion and Costume marks its grand reopening! - August 13, 2024
- La Dolce Vita: combines the study of the Italian language with an immersion in the culture of Italy - August 9, 2024
