The Medici Chapels

Immortalized in marble sculptures by Michelangelo, apparently the Medici dukes Giuliano and Lorenzo looked nothing like the artist’s idealizing representations. When asked why he chose to represent them as he did, Michelangelo allegedly replied that his images would bring these Medici princes more praise and that, in a thousand years, nobody would know they had been different. In this visit, we will see Michelangelo’s contribution to the glory of the Medici dynasty in the Medici Chapel (or New Sacristy) in the family church of San Lorenzo. Michelangelo worked here as both sculptor and architect, creating, in addition to the abovementioned statues of the Medici princes, the allegorical figures of Night and Day, and Dawn and Dusk, which through their brooding psychological intensity and anatomical exaggerations inspired a new generation of artists to push the boundaries of high Renaissance art. We will discuss the artist’s complex relationship to the Medici and the troubled history of the project, his artistic innovations, and his singular contributions to the architectural ideas of his age. We will also visit the later Chapel of the Princes, the splendid mausoleum of the Medici Grand Dukes.

Entrance to the Medici Chapels, Piazza Madonna degli Aldobrandini, Florence