Michelangelo
tra Firenze e Roma

edited by P. Ragionieri

exhibition catalgue: Rome, Palazzo di Venezia, 10 July-12 October 2003; Siracusa, Galleria Civica d’Arte Contemporanea “Montevergini”, 6 Nov. 2003-11 Jan. 2004

The exhibition itinerary is inspired by a fascinating series of portraits by Michelangelo and testimony of the poetry he wrote, then examining the artist’s rapport with the Florentine Republic—to which we owe his David, the cartoon for the Battle of Cascina and the plans for fortifying the city to defend it against the siege of the imperial army—and the problems involved in the construction of San Lorenzo, from the marvellous layout of the New Sacristy to the long and complex genesis of the Laurentian Library and the façade of the basilica, which was never completed. This brings us to the master’s period in Rome, with the exhilarating but essentially solitary adventure of the Sistine Chapel, examined through autographic drawings and testimony of the events leading up to the censorial work done on Michelangelo’s masterpiece. The examination of Michelangelo’s works ends with an overview of the architectural works built in Rome by the artist, elderly by this time, from the dome of St Peter’s to his restructuring of the Capitoline Hill, and is completed with graphic masterpieces such as the studies for the church of San Giovanni dei Fiorentini and the Porta Pia.

Edited by Pina Ragionieri, the exhibition was staged through the collaboration of the Italian Ministry of Cultural Heritage and Activities, the Fondazione Casa Buonarroti, the Special Superintendence for the Rome Museum Complex and the Superintendence for Cultural and Environmental Heritage of Siracusa.