"Beneath the layers of dirt accumulated over the centuries, a very particular color palette appeared. The tones, the blends, the way the human figure was treated: all of it began to resemble the style Michelangelo would use years later in none other than the Sistine Chapel."
"For about half a millennium, The Torment of Saint Anthony wasn't thought to have been painted by Michelangelo. When the painting sold at Sotheby's in 2008, the buyer took it to the Metropolitan Museum of Art for examination and cleaning. Infrared reflectography subsequently turned up pentimenti, or correction marks, a common indication that a painting is not a copy."
The Torment of Saint Anthony was painted in the late 1480s when Michelangelo was an adolescent. Cleaning and conservation revealed a distinctive color palette, tonal blends, and figure treatment anticipating his later Sistine Chapel style. The painting was sold at Sotheby's in 2008 and taken to the Metropolitan Museum of Art for examination and cleaning. Infrared reflectography uncovered pentimenti—correction marks that indicate original working changes rather than a copy. These technical findings demonstrate rapidly advancing technique, inspiration, and creativity in the artist's youth and provide tangible evidence of early experimentation and skill.
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