L'Italo-Americano

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2022 www.italoamericano.org 28 L'Italo-Americano I magine the stupor, the surprise Paolo Dal Poggetto, then d i r e c t o r o f the Museo delle Cap- pelle Medicee in Florence, must have felt when he dis- covered, entirely by chance, the last secret of Michelan- gelo Buonarroti. The year was 1975, the location was t h e B a s i l i c a d i S a n Lorenzo, more precisely the Sagrestia Nuova, creat- ed during the Renaissance by Michelangelo himself, as a b u r i a l c h a m b e r f o r t h e Medicis. Just as you'd expect in a movie, Dal Poggetto and his team discovered, hidden under a wardrobe, a trap door, probably locked since t h e R e n a i s s a n c e . A s d e s c r i b e d b y C l a u d i a K a l b i n h e r a r t i c l e for National Geographic, t h e r o o m t h a t w e l c o m e d them was nothing more than a c o a l d e p o s i t . B u t D a l Poggetto had a hunch, some- thing was telling him that there was more in that small r o o m , w i t h i t s o n e s i n g l e w i n d o w p r o v i d i n g o n l y a sliver of light to its occu- pants. T h e t e a m m e t i c u l o u s l y removed the surface layer of plaster covering the walls, discovering dozens of char- c o a l a n d c h a l k d r a w i n g s , many of which made by the u n m i s t a k a b l e h a n d o f Buonarroti. Indeed, some of them were very reminiscent o f p r e v i o u s w o r k s o f h i s , including a marble statue found in the Sagrestia Nuova that decorates the tomb of G i u l i a n o d e ' M e d i c i ; a Laocoonte head, a character that Michelangelo had stud- i e d a s a y o u n g a r t i s t i n R o m e , i n 1 5 0 6 ; s e v e r a l reworkings of his David and of some of the majestic fig- u r e s h e p a i n t e d o n t h e Sistine Chapel's vault. There is even a possible self-por- trait, an elderly, hunched figure that resembles the artist closely. It is also possi- ble that some of the sketches r e p r e s e n t e d i d e a s Buonarroti wanted to devel- op once he was free. It was a great discovery, but also the beginning of a m y s t e r y : w h y d i d Michelangelo sketch on the w a l l s o f a n u n d e r g r o u n d chamber and when did he do it? Dal Poggetto believed t h a t t h e a r t i s t h a d f o u n d refuge there for a few weeks in 1530 when the Medicis returned to power after the popular revolts that forced t h e m t o f l e e t e m p o r a r i l y s o m e m o n t h s e a r l i e r . Michelangelo had, apparent- ly, supported the rebels and was therefore persona non grata in the Medicis' town. O n l y i n N o v e m b e r 1 5 3 0 , a f t e r P o p e C l e m e n t V I I - w h o i n c i d e n t a l l y w a s a Medici – guaranteed for his s a f e t y , d i d B u o n a r r o t i e m e r g e f r o m h i s h i d i n g place to complete his work i n t h e a b o v e S a g r e s t i a Nuova. N o t e v e r y o n e a g r e e s , however, on the authenticity of the drawings. William Wallace, professor in the Art History and Archeology Department at Washington University in St. Louis and s p e c i a l i z e d i n I t a l i a n a r t from the 14th to the 18th century, is not convinced Michelangelo is the author of the hidden room's draw- ings, or at least, not all of them. He also finds the idea that Buonarroti had to hide f o r t w o m o n t h s u n d e r - ground hard to believe. As he declared in 2019 to Kalb, the artist was a well-known figure in Florence, and he could have found refuge with s o m e o f h i s i m p o r t a n t friends and allies if he need- ed to. In other words, if he wanted to lie low for a while, he could have done so easily somewhere else. That said, Wallace contin- ues, it is possible some of the drawings are Michelangelo's, but they were likely made before 1530, in the months when he and his apprentices w e r e w o r k i n g o n t h e Sagrestia Nuova. The idea is that Michelangelo's helpers probably sketched figures on the walls of the underground c h a m b e r d u r i n g t h e i r breaks, just to kill time, and possibly he did the same. Since its discovery, the chamber remained the realm of archeologists, conserva- tors, and art historians, but there was a project to finally open it to the public in 2020. We all know what happened in 2020, so it seems that we may still need to wait a while before visiting. T h e i m p o r t a n c e o f D a l Poggetto's discovery, howev- er, remains: it gives an excel- lent insight not only into the h i s t o r y o f t h e c i t y o f Florence, a city that, in those time, dictated the faith and history of Europe, but also into the creative ingenuity of an artist with no equals who created, painted and shaped stone throughout his life, u n t i l t h e v e r y e n d . Buonarroti died at 89, and he was still an active artist. T h e s e c r e t c h a m b e r ' s drawings, at least those who are his, show us an artist who was assessing his work through re-elaboration and n u r t u r e d a v i v i d , a c t i v e imagination through contin- uous production: past works and future ideas merge with simplicity in this little room, p e r h a p s a l o n g w i t h t h e s k e t c h e s o f t h o s e w h o worked with him and from h i m w e r e l e a r n i n g : t h e i r drawings, sometimes similar in style to those of their mas- t e r , a r e t e s t a m e n t t o t h e immense influence and tal- ent of Michelangelo, but also proof of how the old artist ateliers of the Renaissance used to work: a place where young talents would refine their hand under the guid- ance of a known artist, but where, perhaps, developing a n i n d e p e n d e n t s t y l e , a t least at the very beginning, may have been difficult. In a city where art is like the air we breathe, Michelangelo's secret drawings are a special gem that let us glance at the inner workings of the artist's mind; they offer us a small window into his creativity. Michelangelo's sketches on paper. The ones discovered under the Sagrestia Nuova are similar, but on walls (Photos: Edwardgerges/Dreamstime) Michelangelo's last secret: the Cappella Medicea's drawings FRANCESCA BEZZONE LIFE PEOPLE PLACES HERITAGE TRADITIONS

• Cover