Long-hidden Michelangelo Room in Florence opens

In Florence’s famous Medici burial chapels, a long-hidden suspected hiding place of Michelangelo (1475-1564) will now be open to visitors.

The Renaissance artist is said to have stayed in the secret chamber for two months in 1530 to avoid the revenge of the powerful Medici family.

On the walls hang fine charcoal sketches attributed to Michelangelo, said Paola D’Agostino, director of the Bargello Museum, on Tuesday.

The small chamber – ten meters long, three meters wide and two and a half meters high – was discovered by chance in 1975 when the then operator of the funerary chapels at the Florentine Church of San Lorenzo, Paolo Dal Poggetto, was looking for another exit for visitors . The room was previously used as a coal warehouse, D’Agostino continued. The restorers then found the charcoal sketches under two layers of plaster.

From November 15, only four visitors at a time will be allowed to visit the ‘secret Michelangelo room’. The Medici burial chapels are popular with tourists. The members of the ruling Medici family are buried there.

The banking family ruled Florence for more than three centuries, and their palaces and art treasures still define the city. There are also numerous sculptures by Michelangelo in the chapels.

The family initially supported Michelangelo. Pope Clement VII – himself a Medici – commissioned him to create works of art. But the artist fell out of favor with the Medici in 1527. During a rebellion that drove the ruling family into exile, he betrayed his former patrons and joined their opponents.

When the family returned to power a few years later, the artist feared for his life. He hid in the room for two months and planned new works with his wall sketches. When he was free again, it turned out that Michelangelo had nothing to fear – and he resumed his duties in Florence.

Michelangelo Buonarroti was born in Caprese in Tuscany and died in Rome. His best-known works include the statue of David in the Galleria dell’ Academia in Florence, the frescoes in the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican and the Pietà in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. (saw/sda/dpa)