{"id":13821,"date":"2019-02-20T08:31:54","date_gmt":"2019-02-20T07:31:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.arttrav.com\/?p=13821"},"modified":"2021-01-06T11:52:27","modified_gmt":"2021-01-06T10:52:27","slug":"michelangelo-medici-chapel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.arttrav.com\/florence\/michelangelo-medici-chapel\/","title":{"rendered":"Michelangelo\u2019s Medici Chapel: Light as symbolic element"},"content":{"rendered":"

A new lighting system revealed yesterday in Michelangelo\u2019s Medici Chapel<\/strong> (or New Sacristy) at San Lorenzo<\/strong> is much more than news; it\u2019s an opportunity to reflect on the role of light in Michelangelo\u2019s prodigious project<\/strong>. Many art historians have observed that light plays a symbolic role<\/strong> in this space, famous for its sculptural representations of Night and Day<\/em>, Dusk and Dawn<\/em>, but it is indeed hard to notice this when you look \u00a0at the space with the artificial lighting system installed 30 years ago. The Bargello Museums (in charge of four Florentine museums including this one), in partnership with Lottomatica (a lottery game group), recently updated the lighting and cleaned some of the sculptures. The new lighting system in Michelangelo\u2019s Medici Chapel provides a reading of the work that corresponds better with art historians\u2019 understanding of Renaissance theories of light in painting and sculpture.<\/p>\n

\"The
The tomb of Lorenzo in the Medici Chapel (New Sacristy) by Michelangelo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Michelangelo\u2019s Medici Chapel: a timeline<\/h2>\n

The following timeline sums up the documented information about Michelangelo\u2019s work at the Medici Chapels, which began with the incomplete fa\u00e7ade of the Church of San Lorenzo. The following information is a translation and adaptation of material provided by the Bargello Museums.<\/p>\n

October 1516<\/strong>: Michelangelo receives a commission from Pope Leo X, through cardinal Giulio de\u2019 Medici, for the construction of the fa\u00e7ade of the basilica of San Lorenzo in Florence, which is the Medici family\u2019s parish church. The 300,000 ducat job marks the end of the Medici\u2019s hostility towards the artist, who had abandoned them during the first republican revolt of 1494.<\/p>\n

\"Michelangelo's
Michelangelo’s model for the facade of San Lorenzo | Ph. Wikipedia \/ Sailko<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

1518<\/strong>: Michelangelo extracts marble at Seravezza for columns of the fa\u00e7ade of San Lorenzo. The dangers of marble mining are apparent in the documents which indicate that a column fell and broke, a quarryman died and another was injured.<\/p>\n

1519<\/strong>: Lorenzo de\u2019 Medici, Duke of Urbino, dies at age 26. In June, Giulio de\u2019 Medici, again acting for the Pope, commissions Michelangelo to construct a burial chapel for the Medici dukes<\/strong> and princes Giuliano and Lorenzo, respectively brother and nephew of Pope Leo X, who both died young. Michelangelo begins work in November.<\/p>\n

1520<\/strong>: In March, much to Michelangelo\u2019s dismay, the fa\u00e7ade project is cancelled. From June, he appears on the record books as regularly working on the construction of the New Sacristy. This space is the same size as the Old Sacristy, a chapel to the left of the altar inside the church that was designed by Brunelleschi. However, space is articulated very differently, with architectural orders stacked one upon the other. Michelangelo has a full-size wooden model made of the niches on the wall that should have been filled with statues, stuccoes and paintings.<\/p>\n

1521<\/strong>: The first level of the walls is complete; on April 10, Michelangelo orders the extraction of marble for the statues and architectural decoration.<\/p>\n

1524<\/strong>: The rest of the structure is complete. In March, Michelangelo announces that he has finished the frames of the dukes\u2019 tombs.<\/p>\n

\"The
The cupola of Michelangelo’s Medici Chapel (New Sacristy) with its delicate marble lantern<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

1526<\/strong>: In June, Michelangelo writes that the following works are finished: four Allegories<\/strong> of the times of day (day, night, dusk, dawn); one captain (i.e. Giuliano de\u2019 Medici); and the Madonna. Work begins soon after on the figure of Lorenzo.<\/p>\n

1527<\/strong>: Work is interrupted due to the second republican (or Ciompi) revolt. Once again, Michelangelo turns against the Medici and works for the new government on the fortification of the city.<\/p>\n

1530<\/strong>: On August 12, Florence surrenders to the imperial troops after two years under siege. The Medici come back in power and Michelangelo hides. We now know that his hiding place is a small room off the Medici Chapel, called the \u201cstanza segreta<\/em>\u201d (set to open to the public in 2020). \u00a0He hid there for two weeks, where he “doodled” on the walls. Pope Clement VII (Giulio de\u2019 Medici) pardons Michelangelo but forces him to go to Rome to paint the Last Judgement<\/em> in the Sistine Chapel and work on the Julius Tomb.<\/p>\n

\"Art
Art historians, including William Wallace, believe these are autograph drawings by Michelangelo, done to pass the time while hiding in the stanza segreta at San Lorenzo.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

1534<\/strong>: Michelangelo leaves Florence once and for all, leaving the New Sacristy incomplete with the statues inside, but not arranged.<\/p>\n

1533-37<\/strong>: The statues of saints Cosmas and Damian are done by other artists (Raffaello da Montelupo and Giovan Agnolo Montorsoli).<\/p>\n

1546<\/strong>: The allegories of the times of day are set up on the sarcophagi, commissioned to Tribolo, by Cosimo I de\u2019 Medici.<\/p>\n

1556-59<\/strong>: Vasari takes over the project and finishes it as we now see it.<\/p>\n

1564<\/strong>: Michelangelo\u2019s funeral takes place at San Lorenzo, guided by Vasari, in a display curated by Vincenzo Borghini.<\/p>\n

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Michelangelo’s Laurentian Library, Mannerist Tendencies<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n