By Priya Raj, to Museum Spotlight Europe (February 2024)
Open to the public, for a limited time, Michelangelo’s “secret room” in Florence, Italy, holds the first sketches of some of Michelangelo’s most famous works, created during hiding from the Pope – it’s a long story. The room was first discovered in the 70s by the director of the Museum of the Medici Chapels, whilst he searched for a way to build another exit out of the chapel. For those looking to visit, still only one exit exists, and it’s also the entrance. The small room [measuring 10 by 3 metres] was initially plastered, and was used to store coal until 1955. Until the 70s it remained unused, untouched and undetected. During cleaning tests to check if the walls were viable to be formed into the new exit, under two layers of plaster, perfectly preserved, the restorer found charcoal drawings on the walls. The director of the museum instantly knew these belonged to Michelangelo Buonarotti.
The History
Not only are the sketches easy to match up with Michelangelo’s style, the timelines match up with a bit of art-world folklore. The Medici were a family who essentially ruled over Florence. Michelangelo was working in Florence for the family, whilst also working with the government to build the fortifications to keep the Medici out after they had been banished from the city for their wrongdoings to the Florentine people. In doing so, Michelangelo made some enemies, in the form of Pope Clement VII, a member of the Medici family who put out a warrant for Michelangelo’s execution. In 1530, during this time of unrest, the Prior of San Lorenzo, Giovan Battista Figiovanni, protected Michelangelo by hiding him in the underground bunker of the Medici Chapel. During this time of refuge, Michelangelo would sketch in the secret room. Many great artists isolated themselves to produce notable works, and though Michelangelo’s wasn’t intentional, his solitude certainly produced curious sketches sprawling the walls of this secret bunker.
The Artist
It’s important to remember Michelangelo first as an architect, second as a sculptor and lastly as a painter. In fact, history tells us he didn’t like to paint that much. He was confined in this room between painting the Sistine Chapel ceiling, and the Last Judgement – both of which are in Vatican City. Some say Michelangelo didn’t want to return to the Vatican to paint the Last Judgement. The four years he spent painting the Sistine Chapel ceiling resulted in eye problems and even periods of blindness! These physical complications are quite an infliction to endure for someone who never had a strong desire to paint to begin with. One of the artist’s most notable self portraits is part of the Last Judgement – a ghastly lifeless figure, all skin and no bones. Though it wasn’t his last work, it was his last painting. Perhaps this depiction of himself is symbolic of the ailments gnawing at his being.
The Room
The room is small, and the roof is low, with small but steep stone steps going down into the room – unfortunately, this is not accessible and it’s unclear if adjustments will be made in the future. For those who can make the trip, it provides insight to the artist like the world has never seen, though entering with the knowledge that he was seemingly preparing for a job he didn’t want to do, it holds somber connotations.
Michelangelo was known to be extremely protective of his creative process, and was scared of other artists plagiarising his work. Sculptors often weren’t allowed to sign their work, which made Michelangelo a rebel for signing The Pieta. This room gave him free reign to open his heart and soul to the process, without fear of being discovered – him or his drawings. Though his other sketches would still be seen by the world, folklore says he would send them to his family to protect. This room may be the most authentic work anyone will ever see from the artist and simulates a living sketch book which was never meant to see the light of day.
The Sketches
Creating art isn’t always perfect, which is what this room proved. Some of the figurines look like stick men, and some faces are purely a circle with two circles as eyes. The staff at the Medici Museums who showed me around said other guests question the validity of the room, as it looks so far from what we know of Michelangelo’s work. She told me, “[…] That’s the point, no one was ever supposed to see this.” Michelangelo’s coal-stained finger marks can be seen on the wall, as fresh as if he had made them moments ago. In art, we speak of artists as otherworldly beings, and though their art might be, they are very human.
The works in the room include the legs of Giuliano de’ Medici, Duke of Nemours, which is also present in the Medici Chapel. Also sketched onto the wall is the head of Laocoön, from the famed Laocoön and His Sons which can be found, alongside a copy, in Vatican City. This artwork is a depiction of human suffering, and the choice to sketch this might tell us something about Michelangelo’s frame of mind. It’s also the only sketch in the room which clearly isn’t an original. Perhaps he was searching through archives of other artists to find the inspiration to create his last painted works.
One sketch which stood out was a vibrant sketch of the Creation of Adam – a popular piece in art and pop culture, and makes me wonder if he was trying to reignite the willpower he found to create the Sistine Chapel ceiling in a short amount of time. Other various detached limbs, nude bodies and unidentifiable preface the creation of The Last Judgement. Perhaps something remarkable happened in this room, or divine intervention, which led Michelangelo back to the Vatican.
See for Yourself
To visit was an out-of-body experience. On the same trip, I saw the Sistine Chapel in Vatican City, and Michelangelo’s David in Tuscany. To say I felt Michelangelo’s presence might have been placebo.
Make no mistake, this isn’t the first time the room has been opened, though it is the first time regular folk can take a peek into the mind of Michelangelo. In the 90s, it was open for professors, art historians, and those who had a professional or academic interest in studying the drawings. They had to close the room a few years later, as they realised the vibrancy and quality of the sketches were becoming affected by the frequent visitors, which would affect the moisture in the air – though now I’m assured they’ve taken sufficient measures. Modern technology means museum curators have been able to devise the idea that allowing a small group to spend a maximum of 15 minutes inside the room should allow sufficient time for the room to recover between visits.
After this 4 month experimental period, more in-depth tests will be done to see if the room might be opened permanently, though between you and me, the museum staff guess that the room may only be open during the winter months (it was around 37 degrees Fahrenheit when I visited). So perhaps not quite the Italian summer you imagined, but this once-in-a-lifetime experience is well worth a venture into the chilly Tuscan winter.
Cover photo by Francesco Fanfani via The Bargello Museum
