ArtExhibitionsMichelangelo: Sacred and Profane – Masterpiece Drawings from the Casa Buonarroti
Special Installation

Michelangelo: Sacred and Profane – Masterpiece Drawings from the Casa Buonarroti

January 17, 2016 to March 27, 2016 Located in the Lila and Joel Harnett Gallery

Twenty-six rare drawings from the renowned collection of the Casa Buonarroti in Florence, Italy, comprise one of the most important Michelangelo exhibitions in America in nearly three decades. The Casa Buonarroti, once owned by the artist, is the world’s largest repository for Michelangelo’s drawings, architectural studies, and memoirs.

Leda Swan Study
Michelangelo

ABOUT THIS EXHIBIT

The images in Sacred and Profane are memorable figurative studies and architectural drawings by the hand of Michelangelo. Included is one of Michelangelo’s most admired and complete drawings, the large Madonna and Child. Additional images include preparatory drawings for later paintings. The Head of the Madonna is a study for his painting Doni Tondo, and the sublime sketch of the Head of Leda was made for Leda and the Swan, a painting now lost and known today only through copies.

A renowned sculptor and painter in his own time, Michelangelo’s legacy as an architect was no less monumental. Highlighted in the exhibition are several of his innovative architectural plans. Among them are drawings for the Façade of San Lorenzo in Florence, and his innovative Plan for the Church of San Giovanni dei Fiorentini in Rome. These works help demonstrate Michelangelo’s lasting influence on architecture, and scholar Adriano Marinazzo considers these designs to be “among the most fascinating architectural projects of the entire Renaissance.”

IMAGE CREDIT

Michelangelo, Madonna and Child, c. 1524. Black chalk, red chalk, red wash, white heightening and ink. Collection of the Casa Bruonarroti, Florence, inv. 71F. Image credit: © Casa Buonarroti. All rights reserved.Michelangelo, Plan for the Church of San Giovanni Dei Fiorentini in Rome, 1559-1560. Black chalk, pen and ink, white heightening and washes. Collection of the Casa Buonarroti, Florence, inv. 124A. Image credit: © Casa Buonarroti. All rights reserved.

Michelangelo

ABOUT THIS EXHIBIT

This exhibition is an exceptional opportunity for the Phoenix community and the state of Arizona, as Michelangelo’s works rarely travel outside of Italy. Sacred and Profane exhibited in 2013 at The Muscarelle Museum of Art and the Museum of Fine Arts Boston.

This exhibition is organized by the Muscarelle Museum of Art at The College of William and Mary in Virginia in partnership with Fondazione Casa Buonarroti and Associazione Culturale Metamorfosi. Title Sponsors: The Dorrance Family Foundation, Men’s Arts Council. Presenting Sponsors: JPMorganChase & Co., J.W. Kieckhefer Foundation, Sharron and Delbert R. Lewis Exhibition Endowment Fund, The Kemper and Ethel Marley Foundation, Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust Exhibition Endowment Fund, The Virginia M. Ullman Foundation. Major Sponsors: APS, Cox Communications, BlueCross BlueShield of Arizona, Friends of European Art. Promotional support provided by The Phoenician.

IMAGE CREDIT

Michelangelo, Plan for the Church of San Giovanni Dei Fiorentini in Rome, 1559-1560. Black chalk, pen and ink, white heightening and washes. Collection of the Casa Buonarroti, Florence, inv. 124A. Image credit: © Casa Buonarroti. All rights reserved.

EXHIBITIONS

On view for a limited time, exhibitions present art from across the centuries and the globe, from iconic fashion to Old Master paintings, contemporary photography to historical objects of Asia.

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ARTISTS IN THE COLLECTION

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