Video from BBC Timestamp
Long-Lost Drawings Found Inside Michelangelo's Secret Bunker | BBC Timestamp
"Historian Dr Michael Scott embarks on an adventure to explore the hidden treasures of Italy's astonishing cities, bringing a fascinating new insight into 2,000 years of history.
In Florence, Dr Scott is delighted to explore a small chamber under the Medici chapels in the Basilica of San Lorenzo. This is believed to be Michelangelo’s secret underground hiding place, where he hid from persecution from the powerful Medici family. Here, he allegedly sketched chalk drawings on the
walls, creating an ‘autobiography through art’ that lay undiscovered for centuries.
This clip is from the series Italy’s Invisible Cities, first broadcast in 2017." from the video introduction
Michelangelo's Hidden Drawings Florence, Italy
"The doodles of a genius line the walls of a secret room under the Medici Chapel, where they were hidden for nearly 500 years.
In 1530, to escape the wrath of the Pope, Michelangelo holed up in a tiny secret room under the Medici Chapel of the Basilica di San Lorenzo. The artist had been working on the lavish tomb when all hell broke loose in Florence, and he was forced into hiding. With nothing but time and a little charcoal on his hands, he covered the bare walls with some prisoner graffiti.
Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni designed the Medici Chapel as an elaborate domed mausoleum for his patron family, but for three months he hid underneath it and filled the walls with drawings—of himself, of Christ, and even, some experts believe, sketched reproductions of images from the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, which he had completed in 1512.
Michelangelo owed his career to the Medici, one of the wealthiest and most powerful families in Europe. In 1529 he joined ranks with other Florentines who had grown weary of their rule, hoping for a more democratic system of governance. Defying the formidable family, let alone the Pope (Clement VII, who was a Medici), was more than a little counterintuitive for the artist, whose livelihood depended on them. But defy he did, working to help fortify the city walls against Medici-friendly forces led by the Pope himself.
After 10 months of struggle, the Pope and his family won, and the republican sympathizers were swiftly punished. This would have included Michelangelo, had he not retreated for those three months to his subterranean hideaway to wait it out..." from the article: Michelangelo's Hidden Drawings Florence, Italy
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