Michelangelo’s ‘secret room’ opens to the public

The artist took refuge in a small room in the Basilica of San Lorenzo in Florence to escape Pope Clement VII’s death sentence.

From 15 November it will be possible to visit a secret room in Florence whose walls were “scribbled” by Michelangelo. It is believed that in 1530 the Renaissance artist was hidden in this small chamber in the basement of the New Sacristy of the Basilica of San Lorenzo for months to evade a death sentence from Pope Clement VII. This is the first time the doors have been opened to the general public; previously it was reserved for researchers and specialists.

The charcoal and chalk drawings were discovered in 1975, when Paolo Dal Poggetto, then director of the Medici Chapels, which make up the Bargello Museum, was looking for a space to create a new exit from the museum. The historian found a trapdoor under a cupboard leading to a room ten metres long and three metres wide. The sketches came to light when the walls of the chamber, which until 1955 had been used to store coal, were removed.

It’s believed that Michelangelo sought refuge in the room to hide from the Medici, his former patrons, when the rulers returned to Florence after being banished into exile in 1527 by a popular revolt that the artist had joined.

During the family’s exile, Michelangelo supervised the fortifications of the city during the brief republican government. Pope Clement VII, a member of the Medici family, condemned him to death. It is believed that Giovan Battista Figiovanni, prior of the Basilica of San Lorenzo where Michelangelo took refuge, located the hiding place. He was eventually pardoned by the Medici and the Pope lifted the sentence so that the artist could complete work on the Sistine Chapel and the Medici family tomb.

The secret room of the artist Michelangelo Buonarroti will open on 15 November and tickets can be bought from this Friday for 20 euros.

National Museum of the Bargello
Via del Proconsolo, 4
50122 Florence FI, Italy