You can visit the safehouse where Michelangelo holed up like a fugitive fearing for his life, in 1530, to escape the wrath of the Pope.
You can see scrawled on the walls of the cramped, narrow room the master draftsman’s very own prisoner’s graffiti—there are his self-portrait, the Laocoön, even Christ. There is what some experts think is a reproduced head from the Sistine Chapel ceiling.
It was impossible before, but starting mid-November the artist’s secret alcove will be open for the public, to walk through and experience in person. What was it like to hide there? What drove him to endure claustrophobia in seclusion?
The story goes, Michelangelo fell out of favor with Pope Clement VII and took refuge in Sagrestia Nuova. That novel mausoleum of Michelangelo’s own design is one of several chapels enclosed within Florence’s famed domed Piazza di Madonna degli Aldobrandini. In a vault, with nothing but time on his hands, the artist took to beautifying the plain walls using some pieces of charcoal.
That was after a brief upheaval when a republican government overthrew the Médici family that ruled Florence, ousting them from town in 1527. Michelangelo had served as supervisor of the city’s defenses, helping fortify its walls against Médici-friendly forces. Defying the powerful Médicis was more than a little counterintuitive for the artist, who depended on the family for his livelihood. But defy he did. Consequences be damned.
But the revolution was short-lived. After 10 months of struggle, Pope Clement VII—a Médici himself—and the family won back the city. Sympathizers of the revolt were punished. Michelangelo’s friend Giovan Battista Figiovanni, the Prior of San Lorenzo, hid him from the Médicis in a vault in Sagrestia Nuova. Just 3 meters (9.8 feet) wide, 10 meters (32.8 feet) long, and 2.5 meters (8.2 feet) high, it’s now dubbed Michelangelo’s secret room.
Human anatomy is explored by the artist in sketches that are gestural and loose, along with some more refined closeup drawings. Some present nearly whole figures, while others are studies of details such as lower limbs, shoulders, and heads. The artist channels emotion in the contorted facial features of the Trojan priest of Greek mythology Laocoön, who writhes in agony as he is killed by serpents.
“Its walls appear to be teeming with numerous sketches of figures, largely of monumental size, drawn by marks that attest to great clarity in design,” Francesca de Luca, curator of the Museum of the Medici Chapels, said in a statement.
He goes on: “These are accompanied by studies, varying between in-depth and superficial analyses, capturing details of the body, facial features, and unusual poses.”
For a time, it was thought Michelangelo had tucked himself into a church bell tower or hidden out with a friend. When eventually the Médicis forgave him, he emerged. They asked him kindly to finish the mausoleum, a tomb for the Médicis themselves.
Michelangelo’s secret room remained hidden for some time; until 1975 when tests were performed on the walls during a cleaning. Underneath two layers of plaster, restorers found several figures on the walls done in charcoal and sanguine. These varied in size with some of the drawings overlapping.
The museum’s then director hypothesized how the artist might have taken refuge here during the brief spat between the Florentine republican government and the Médicis.
Since 1975, the room had been off-limits to the public. Now, in just days, nearly fifty years later, tours will finally be admitted. “This place grants today’s visitors the unique experience of being able to come into direct contact not only with the creative process of the maestro but also with the perception of the formation of his myth as a divine artist,” Mr. de Luca said.
The museum has begun booking groups, continuing until March 30. You can join a tour, limited to four per visit with a maximum of 100 per week. Groups are being kept intentionally small to maintain ideal preservation conditions. The drawings need extended periods of darkness between periods of LED light exposure.
The secret room is “an extraordinarily fascinating place but extremely delicate due to the location of the narrow space,” said Massimo Osanna, director general of museums in Italy.
You have to book in advance and tours will start on November 15. Tickets are 20 euros per person (only 2 euros for reduced-price tickets); children enter free. There is an additional obligatory reservation fee of 3 euros, plus 10 euros for entering the Museum of the Médici Chapels.
