Six Lesser-Known Michelangelo Works, From a Lost Cupid Forgery to the Rondanini Pietà
A recent examination of six lesser-known works by Michelangelo sheds light on his passions for painting, sculpture, and architecture. The Kimbell Art Museum houses The Torment of Saint Anthony (circa 1487–1488), which might be his earliest painting, potentially created under the guidance of Domenico Ghirlandaio. The now-lost Sleeping Cupid (1495), a marble carving, was sold as an antique, further boosting Michelangelo's fame. The Bruges Madonna (around 1504) stands out as the sole sculpture to leave Italy during his lifetime. The Galleria dell'Accademia holds the unfinished four Prisoners (1520s–1530s). His architectural innovation, the staircase for the Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana (1524), is notable. Lastly, the Pietà Rondanini (1552–1564) represents his final sculpture, featuring a frail Christ.
Key facts
- The Torment of Saint Anthony, ca. 1487–1488, is at the Kimbell Art Museum in Texas and its attribution to Michelangelo is disputed
- The Sleeping Cupid was begun in 1495 and sold to Cardinal Riario as an antique, later passing to Cesare Borgia and Isabella d'Este
- The Sleeping Cupid was destroyed in the 1698 fire at the Palace of Whitehall in London
- The Bruges Madonna, ca. 1504, is the only Michelangelo sculpture to leave Italy during his lifetime
- The four Prisoners were intended for Pope Julius II's tomb, begun in 1505 and abandoned, and were carved in the 1520s–1530s
- The Prisoners are held at the Galleria dell'Accademia in Florence
- Pope Clement VII de Medici commissioned the Biblioteca Laurenziana project in 1524
- The Pietà Rondanini was begun in 1552 and worked on until Michelangelo's death in 1564
Entities
Artists
- Michelangelo
- Michelangelo Buonarroti
- Domenico Ghirlandaio
- Martin Schongauer
- Ascanio Condivi
- Lorenzo the Magnificent
- Baldassare del Milanese
- Cardinal Riario
- Cesare Borgia
- Isabella d'Este
- Giulio Romano
- Jacopo Tintoretto
- Giovanni Mouscron
- Alessandro Mouscron
- Pope Julius II della Rovere
- Pope Clement VII de Medici
- Bartolomeo Ammanati
Institutions
- Kimbell Art Museum
- Galleria dell'Accademia
- Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana
- Church of Our Lady
- Musea Brugge
- Medici family
- San Lorenzo monastery
- Galleria Bazzanti
- Alte Pinakothek
- Museo Omero
- The Collector
Locations
- Florence
- Italy
- Texas
- United States
- Bruges
- Belgium
- Rome
- Carrara
- London
- England
- Munich
- Germany
- Ancona
- Medici Gardens