Michelangelo Buonarotti (1475–1564) was one of the greatest artists of the Renaissance. He was not the isolated, tortured genius of artistic legend but a man who maintained a close circle of friends and associates into old age. His late drawings, letters and poetry offer powerful insights into his psychology, reflecting his Catholic faith, his commanding intellectual engagement, and his hope for salvation.
Tracing the final 30 years of Michelangelo’s career, this new British Museum Press publication features handwritten letters alongside deeply personal drawings, examining how the great master used art and faith to explore the common human experience of ageing in a rapidly changing world.
Built on the British Museum’s extraordinary collection of drawings and featuring the latest research, this book – illustrated with stunning full-page images and details of some of the artist’s most celebrated works throughout – explores Michelangelo’s relationships and late creativity to go beyond the towering Renaissance master known today.
The accompanying exhibition, Michelangelo: the last decades, opens at the British Museum on 2 May 2024.
Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475–1564) was one of the greatest artists of the Renaissance. He was not the isolated, tortured genius of artistic myth, but a man who maintained a close circle of friends and associates into old age.
He developed collaborative working relationships with younger artists, thereby maintaining his fame and reputation even as he aged, relinquishing the hardest physical work to others. His late drawings offer a powerful insight into his psychology, reflecting his Catholic faith, his commanding intellectual engagement and his hope for salvation.
Michelangelo reimagined the iconography of religious art to create hugely influential compositions of key moments in Christian faith, such as the Crucifixion, the Last Judgment and the Pietà (or Lamentation).
He was involved in designing several significant sites in Rome at this time – including his key architectural project, the immense challenge of rebuilding St Peter’s, at the very heart of the Catholic world.
His role as an architect is explored through beautiful drawings, highlighting his range as a designer. Alongside his major commissions he created deeply personal drawings – revisiting earlier compositions to explore intensely moving Crucifixions that served as spiritual meditations on Christ’s death and offered the hope of salvation for an elderly man facing the end of his own long life.
Built on the British Museum’s extraordinary collection of drawings and featuring the latest research, this book – illustrated with stunning full-page images and details of some of the artist’s most celebrated works throughout – explores Michelangelo’s relationships and late creativity to go beyond the towering Renaissance master known today.
Jill Burke, author of How to be a Renaissance Woman and The Italian Renaissance Nude says “This fascinating and beautifully illustrated catalogue demonstrates the creativity of Michelangelo’s late years in a way that is both accessible and scholarly.”
Michelangelo: the last decades by Sarah Vowles and Grant Lewis will be published on 2 May 2024.
Authors
Sarah Vowles is Smirnov Family Curator of Italian and French Prints and Drawings and curator of the exhibition Michelangelo: the last decades, opening in May 2024 at the British Museum. Previous publications include Piranesi drawings: visions of antiquity (2020) and co-authorship of Mantegna and Bellini (2017).
Grant Lewis is Milein Cosman Project Curator for the exhibition Michelangelo: the last decades, opening in May 2024 at the British Museum.
Where to buy the book
For individual customer orders please visit the British Museum online shop
