The Metropolitan Museum of Art November 13, 2017–February 12, 2018
Michelangelo: Divine Draftsman and Designer,
on view at The Metropolitan Museum of Art from November 13, 2017,
through February 12, 2018, will present a stunning range and number of
works by the artist: 133 of his drawings, 3 of his marble sculptures,
his earliest painting, and his wood architectural model for a chapel
vault. A substantial body of complementary works by his teachers,
associates, pupils, and artists who were influenced by him or who worked
in collaboration with him will also be displayed for comparison and
context.
A towering genius in the history of Western art, Michelangelo was celebrated during his long life for the excellence of his disegno,
the power of drawing and invention that provided the foundation for all
of the arts. For his mastery of drawing, design, sculpture, painting,
and architecture, he was called Il divino ("the divine one") by
his contemporaries. His powerful imagery and dazzling technical
virtuosity transported viewers and imbued all of his works with a
staggering force that continues to enthrall us today.
Selected from 50 public and private collections in the United States
and Europe, the exhibition will bring together the largest group of
original drawings by Michelangelo ever assembled for public display.
Many of the drawings rank among the greatest works of draftsmanship
produced. Extraordinary and rare international loans will include the
complete series of masterpiece drawings he created for his friend
Tommaso de'Cavalieri and a monumental cartoon for his last fresco in the
Vatican Palace.
Michelangelo: Divine Draftsman and Designer
will widen the conversation about the artist and present an
extraordinary opportunity to see many works that are never displayed
together. Drawing was the first thing Michelangelo turned to, whether he
was creating a painting, a sculpture, or architecture, and it is what
unified his career. He is a forceful draftsman and brings a sculptor's
understanding and eye. We can see him thinking—almost having a
conversation on the sheet of paper—and there is a sense of intimacy and
immediacy, as if looking over his shoulder. The exhibition will give
visitors an unmatched opportunity to enter the world of this absolute
master in the history of art.
Michelangelo Buonarroti was born on March 6, 1475 in Caprese
(southeast of Florence), and died a wealthy and famous man, on February
18, 1564, in Rome. Although he spent the last 30 years of his life in
Rome, his love was always for Florence, his patria (homeland),
and all things Florentine. His art, his training, his methods, and his
poetry were, to the last, rooted in Florentine culture.
Michelangelo's
longevity was extraordinary for a person of his time. Also exceptional
for an artist of his era, five major biographies were written during his
lifetime or soon after his death.
The exhibition will trace Michelangelo's life and career, beginning
with his training as a teenager in the workshop of Ghirlandaio and his
earliest painting,
The Torment of Saint Anthony (1487–88),
and first known sculpture, Young Archer (ca. 1490).
It will move on to the commission of his colossal marble sculpture David in 1501,
Design for the Tomb of Pope Julius II della Rovere, 1505–1506, by
Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475–1564). Pen and brown ink, brush and brown
wash, over stylus ruling and leadpoint. 20-1/16 inches by 12-9/16
inches. The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Rogers Fund, 1962. (The
Metropolitan Museum of Art)
the early planning of the Tomb of Pope Julius II,
and the monumental project of painting The Last Judgment
on the Sistine Ceiling.
An entire gallery will be devoted to the
Sistine Ceiling and will include Michelangelo's original studies for the
project.
“Archers Shooting at a Herm,” 1530–33 by
Michelangelo Buonarroti (Italian, Caprese 1475–1564 Rome). Drawing, red
chalk. 8 5/8 inches by 12 11/16 inches.
(ROYAL COLLECTION TRUST/HER MAJESTY QUEEN ELIZABETH II 2017)
“Three Labors of Hercules,” 1530–1533, by Michelangelo Buonarroti
(1475–1564). Drawing, red chalk. 10 11/16 inches by 16 5/8 inches.
(Royal Collection Trust/Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, 2017,
www.royalcollection.org.uk)
Portrait of Andrea Quaratesi, 1532, by Michelangelo Buonarroti
(1475–1564). Drawing, black chalk. 16 3/16 inches by 11 ½ inches. (The
British Museum, London)
Other sections will explore his portraiture and the beautiful
finished drawings he created for close friends; his collaboration and
friendship with Venetian artist Sebastiano del Piombo (1485/86–1547);
and the drawings and poetry he created for the young nobleman Tommaso
de'Cavalieri, whom he met in 1532 and who became a life-long friend.
The
artist's last decades in Rome are reflected in the last part of the
exhibition and will include, in addition to architectural drawings,
the
enormous cartoon (full-scale drawing) he prepared for the Crucifixion of Saint Peter fresco in the Vatican Palace, as well as a rare three-dimensional model for the vault of a chapel.
Said Dr. Bambach: "His creativity continued to be phenomenal until the end when he died at 88."
The Metropolitan Museum of Art is
indebted to the public and private collections that have graciously lent
their treasured holdings to the exhibition, including The Ashmolean
Museum, Oxford; the Royal Collection and Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II,
Windsor; the Gallerie degli Uffizi and Gabinetto dei Disegni e delle
Stampe degli Uffizi, Florence; the Museo Nazionale del Bargello,
Florence; the Musée du Louvre, Paris; the Casa Buonarroti, Florence; the
Museo Nazionale di Capodimonte, Naples; the Albertina, Vienna; the
British Museum, London; and the Biblioteca Apostolica Vaticana and
Fabbrica di San Pietro in Vaticano, Vatican City.
Michelangelo: Divine Draftsman and Designer is organized by Dr. Carmen C. Bambach, Curator in The Met's Department of Drawings and Prints.
The exhibition will be accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue
written by Dr. Bambach that will include essays by a team of leading
Michelangelo scholars. It will be published by The Metropolitan Museum
of Art and distributed by Yale University Press.
