Michelangelo in Florence: the drawings at Casa Buonarroti

The Casa Buonarroti museum is a must-see visit for all that are particularly fond of Michelange’s art.

A part from the great museums exhibiting Michelangelo’s masterpieces, such as theAccademia Gallery, the Bargello Museum, theMedici’s Chapels and the Uffizi Gallery, Florence offers the opportunity of admire other less famous works of this artist, who spent many years in his life in Florence

Vasari tells us that, prior to his death in Rome in 1564, Michelangelo had burned “a large number of his own drawings, sketches and cartoons so that no one should see the labors he endured and the ways he tested his genius, and lest he should appear less than perfect.” It is partly because of the artist’s desire for perfection that his graphic work is so rare and valuable: even Leonardo, his nephew and heir, was obliged to pay a high price for a group of his drawings that came onto the Roman market after Michelangelo’s death. These were probably the ones that Leonardo would donate to Cosimo I dei Medici around 1566, together with the Madonna della scala.
Michelangelo Buonarroti the Younger decided to devote a series of rooms in the family house on Via Ghibellina to the memory of his great ancestor, the Madonna della scala and part of the drawings given to the Medici were returned by Cosimo II.

Many of the drawings were collected in volumes at the time, but the ones that were considered most beautiful were framed and hung on the walls of the new rooms: for example, Cleopatra in the Scrittoio, one of the designs for the facade of San Lorenzo in the Camera della notte e del dì and the small cartoon for a Madonna and Child in the Camera degli angioli.

The collection of Michelangelo’s drawings owned by Buonarroti family was the largest in the world at the time, and it remains so today, with its over two hundred sheets, in spite of the serious inroads that have been made into it.

We suggest to visit the Casa Buonarroti advising you that due to conservation reasons, it is impossible to place the graphic works permanently on show, that is the reason why only small samples of the collection are displayed in rotation in a room.

Casa Buonarroti is located in Florence, exactly in Via Ghibellina 70. The museum can be visited from 10.00 am to 5.00 pm, every day except Tuesdays. For more information, please click here!