This Room Is Thought To Have Been Michelangelo's Secret Hideaway And Drawing Board

A hidden room in Florence’s Basilica di San Lorenzo has walls covered with drawings believed to be by Michelangelo and his disciples. The sketches are in charcoal and chalk and are not signed by Michelangelo, but experts say some are almost certainly his originals. The room lies beneath the Medici Chapels, commissioned around 1520 for the Medici family mausoleum. The Medicis were patrons who governed Florence and Tuscany. Historians believe Michelangelo later betrayed them by joining a 1527 revolt that expelled the Medicis. When the family returned three years later, Michelangelo is thought to have hidden for months in the secret dwelling below the chapels. The room was discovered in 1975 after a trapdoor was found under a wardrobe, and cleaning revealed dozens of doodles and scribbles.

"A museum director in Florence, Italy, found a hidden room whose walls were covered in drawings believed to be the work of Michelangelo and his disciples. Although the drawings are not signed by the master, art experts say some of the sketches in charcoal and chalk are almost certain to be Michelangelo originals. They could shed light not only on the Renaissance artist's creative process but also on a mysterious and dangerous period in his life."

"The room is located in Florence's Basilica di San Lorenzo. That was the official church of the Medici family—the famous patrons of the arts who governed Florence, and later Tuscany, for centuries. Around 1520, the Medicis commissioned Michelangelo to design a family mausoleum. It came to be known as the Medici Chapels."

"Historians believe Michelangelo eventually betrayed his patrons by joining a 1527 revolt that drove the Medicis out of Florence. When the family returned three years later, Michelangelo is thought to have gone into hiding for months in the secret dwelling below the chapels. The hidden room, 23 feet by 6 1/2 feet, was discovered in 1975 by a museum director who spotted a trapdoor below a wardrobe that led to the room."

"After cleaning the walls, the museum director discovered dozens of doodles and scribbles on the walls. Some of the drawings called to mind known wor—"

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