Michelangelo, beyond the Sistine Chapel: British Museum explores last decades of artist’s life

‘His work becomes, in the last 10 years, very introspective and very poignant,’ said curator Sarah Vowles

(The Trustees of the British Museum)

A new exhibition at the British Museum will explore the final three decades of Michelangelo’s life and is aiming to encourage audiences to think about the artist beyond David and the Sistine Chapel.

The first exhibition since the appointment of the museum’s new director, Nicholas Cullinan, Michelangelo: the last decades will explore not only the final work of the Italian Renaissance master but also elements of his personality by showcasing personal poems and letters.

Sarah Vowles, Curator of Italian and French Prints and Drawings, told The Independent: “I think a lot of people, when they think of Michelangelo, automatically think of David and the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Perhaps they don’t realise that when he was 60 years old, he still had almost 30 years of dynamic creativity left in his life.”

Explaining that there has never been an exhibition that looks specifically at these 30 years, Vowles said: “His work becomes, in the last 10 years, very introspective and very poignant. I think the show enables people to get a good sense of what he was like as a person, as well as an artist.”

(The Trustees of the British Museum)

(The Trustees of the British Museum)

She hopes that visitors will be able to “engage with Michelangelo in a personal way”, saying the exhibition aims to “show people he’s not just this towering genius of Renaissance art”, but a “real man, struggling with concerns that we all have at various points of our life.”

“We want people to get a sense of who Michelangelo was. We want them to have the feeling of sort of peering over his shoulder as he’s working and understanding where these beautiful drawings are coming from.”

One of the highlights of the show will be the monumental Epifania, displayed for the first time since conservation began back in 2018. For the first time in over four centuries, the cartoon will be reunited with the painting made from it by Michelangelo’s biographer, Ascanio Condivi.

Epifania will be on display for the first time since 2018 ( The Trustees of the British Museum)

The exhibition aims to “celebrate the amazing drawings he’s producing, but at the same time look at the context in which they’re being produced,” showcasing the artist’s “fears and vulnerabilities.”

Vowles added: “People have an idea of Michelangelo as this very confident, stubborn character. I’m hoping this might offer a slight counter, or complement to that view.”

Work on the exhibition began back in 2018, with 20 of the 80 Michelangelo drawings in the British Museum’s collection being displayed in this exhibition. Pieces from Casa Buonarroti in Florence and the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford will also appear on display.

Michelangelo: the last decades will run from May 2 - July 28, 2024.