It must have been an exhilarating moment in 1975 when museum director Paolo Dal Poggetto discovered a trapdoor hidden under a cabinet in the New Sacristy of the Basilica of San Lorenzo in Florence, Italy. Under the trapdoor, stone steps led down to a tiny chamber that had gone unnoticed for 500 years. At first, it appeared to be just a storage room for coal, but Dal Poggetto suspected more beneath the plaster of the walls, given the room’s location.
Experts spent weeks removing the plaster with scalpels searching for clues to art remains, uncovering dozens of drawings, many of which were with almost certainty attributed to Michelangelo Buonarroti.
It was the art historical find of the century, and with this “unearthed” treasure, a story full of faith, power, and the tireless mission of an artist was brought to life.
It is now believed that this was the chamber where Michelangelo hid in 1530 for two months from the revenge of the Medici family in Florence, the most powerful bankers of the time.
“I hid in a tiny cell,” Michelangelo wrote, “entombed like the dead Medici above, though hiding from a live one. To forget my fears, I fill the walls with drawings.”
The remains of these drawings raise the question of why Michelangelo, fearing for his life, hid from the very family that once took him under its wing.
At 14, Michelangelo was taken into the Medici palace by Lorenzo de Medici, who took notice of the young talent; he lived among them like a son. There, Michelangelo enjoyed the privilege of a humanistic education.
During this time, he produced his first pagan motif, the “Battle of the Centaurs,” commissioned by Lorenzo in 1492.
Why did the artist fall out of favor with the Medici some 40 years later?
To answer this question, however, we must consider a turbulent period when the people of Florence revolted against Medici rule, and the family was expelled from the city in 1494.
The heated events surrounding the conflict between Michelangelo and the Medici family reveal much about the artist’s spiritual beliefs. In Michelangelo’s later volumes of poetry, his devotion to his faith in God is increasingly expressed.
A Heated Conflict
But how did this disagreement with the Medici family come about, which forced Michelangelo into hiding in 1530?The Medici family had grown from wealthy merchants to the most influential banking family in Europe in the late 13th century, even taking over the rule of what was then the Republic of Florence in 1434. Responsible for the rapid rise in its power acquisition was, among other things, the family’s most important customer, the Vatican in Rome under Pope John XXIII (considered an anti-pope), a former pirate named Baldassare Cossa. He was one among three popes contesting for power at the time, but ultimately ended the Schism and retained power.
Savonarola: A Prophet for Righteousness
Savonarola was no ordinary preacher; he won the people’s trust through clear theological understanding and a way of preaching that spoke directly to the hearts of the masses. As his popularity grew, so did his criticism of the church.
“You have built a house of deceit. You have put a prostitute on the throne of Solomon. The Church has invited all who can pay to enter and do as they please. Those who do God’s will are thrown out. O prostitute Church, you spread your lewdness everywhere from land to the sea.”
In addition, Savonarola saw the Medici rulers as the cause of the moral decline and the abandonment of the Christian faith in Florence, as they had reinforced pagan rituals. With Savonarola’s influence, the Florentine population began to revolt against the Medici rule. When Savonarola decided to side with French occupants in Florence in 1494, the Medicis were forced to abandon their rule and the city.“She [Florence] is more glorious, powerful, and rich than ever before, spreading her wings farther than anyone can imagine. In the new Jerusalem that is Florence, peace and unity will reign.”
With the Medicis’ exile, Savonarola led Florence back to an independent republic, with the idea that Christ’s laws should be the basis of its political and social life.Savonarola’s leadership did not last long as he began to preach ever more fiercely against the corruption of the church. For this, Pope Alexander VI excommunicated him in 1497. Despite his excommunication, Savonarola kept preaching in Florence, therefore the pope needed him punished and threatened the Florentines with an interdict, which would deny them most sacraments and Christian burials if they persisted in harboring him. On Palm Sunday in 1498, Savonarola’s monastery, St. Mark’s, was attacked by a screaming mob, and Savonarola was arrested and finally executed by hanging and burning in the center of the city that year.
All of Savonarola’s writings—90 in number, from letters to huge volumes—were widely distributed across Europe by his followers. It is believed that Savonarola’s teaching never left Michelangelo’s mind.Michelangelo’s ‘David’ a Symbol for Independence
Savonarola saw sacred art as a tool for promoting this worldview and, at the same time, opposed secular art as being damaging. His view on art shaped those of the artists and the Florentine people.
Michelangelo’s biblical figure of David, for example, played a significant role in symbolizing the defeat of the Medici family. The sculpture was commissioned mainly by members of the Florentine wool guild called Arte Della Lana a few years after the Medicis’ exile.
The statue was initially supposed to be set atop the Florence cathedral. However, instead of placing the 17-foot sculpture at the cathedral, in 1504 it was erected in the center of Florence, metaphorically facing the giant Goliath. Transcripts reveal a discussion around the provocative placement of the sculpture. With the town hall behind him, the hero looked as though he was preparing for battle. His gaze, deliberate, was fixed in the direction of Rome, the place to which Florence’s recently deposed Medici rulers had fled.
According to University of Virginia history professor Paul Barolsky, in his journal article “Machiavelli, Michelangelo, and David” (2004), Italy had a longstanding tradition of portraying the biblical figure of David as a protector of both society and culture. Aiming to depict him as a guardian, Michelangelo rendered David taller, more handsome, and more muscular than Bible passages suggested.
After Savonarola’s death, the Medici family regained influence by having Giovanni de Medici elected as the first Medici pope, Leo X. As a Medici descendant in his new position, he had the Medici family resume control of the government of Florence in 1512 and ended the republic.
But he did not win over the hearts of many of Savonarola’s supporters and Florentines who supported democracy, including Michelangelo.
This period in Michelangelo’s life as a young man was formative both spiritually and artistically. He created his most iconic works, such as the “David” and the Sistine Chapel ceiling painting. Much like Savonarola, he saw himself as a servant of God, yet not through preaching but art.
In 1527, when a group of Florentines again resisted the authority of the Medici, Michelangelo was actively among them, standing up for independence. He even became director of fortifications for the republic. The Medici family again was driven into exile, and the revolt of the people restored the republic.
But the reestablishment did not last long. After bloody battles, the Medici resumed rule in 1531 through Pope Clement, also a Medici descendant. He reinstated Alessandro de Medici as the Duke of Florence.
With the “Medici Pope” and his family back in power, republican sympathizers were punished without fail. This would have included Michelangelo had he not retreated to his underground hideaway.
At this point, while Michelangelo feared for his life and hid from the wrath of the Medici family, scholars believe he kept himself busy with the works of art found in the room. These seem inspired by a collection of works that he had already produced as well as those that he had yet to complete.
Fortunately for Michelangelo, his fame and renown as well as his value to the pope as a commissioned artist, outweighed his transgressions. The pope agreed to spare Michelangelo’s life on the condition that he would complete the Medici tomb in the Medici Chapel.
Michelangelo received this message; he agreed, returned from hiding, and completed the work. After fulfilling the commission, he left his hometown of Florence for Rome in 1532 as the Florentine republic had ended, and therefore he never returned.
In Rome, he worked on another magnificent masterpiece, “The Last Judgment” in the Sistine Chapel. At this point in his life, Michelangelo had witnessed how a preacher gave his life in an attempt to follow the voice of God over the voice of the pope.
We can see in this powerful fresco how Michelangelo processed his experiences he had in Florence. It seems as if his sense of justice informs this painting with a fierce interpretation of God’s judgment, vividly depicting the consequences of sin and the redemption for those who stand up for faith.
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