05/19/2026
He built their tomb. Then he hid underneath it.Michelangelo received the commission for the New Sacristy of San Lorenzo from Pope Clement VII around 1520. The project was a family mausoleum for the Medici, the dynasty that had patronized him since he was a teenager in Lorenzo the Magnificent's household. He designed the architecture, carved the allegorical figures of Night, Day, Dawn, and Dusk for the sarcophagi, and worked on the project for over a decade. The New Sacristy at Piazza di Madonna degli Aldobrandini 6 in Florence is considered one of the defining achievements of Renaissance architecture. He knew the building better than anyone alive.
Visitors entering the Medici Chapels today walk through the crypt, past the tombs of the Medici Grand Dukes, and into the New Sacristy where Michelangelo's carved figures recline on the marble lids of the sarcophagi in the half-light. The room is white and grey, the proportions precise, the sculptures so well placed that moving even slightly changes which figure dominates the space. The tombs hold Lorenzo II de' Medici, Duke of Urbino, and Giuliano de' Medici, Duke of Nemours. The idealized marble portraits above the tombs were carved by Michelangelo himself between 1524 and 1534. The chapel is one of the most studied rooms in Italy.
But
In 1527, Florence revolted against the Medici and expelled them. Michelangelo sided with the republic. He was appointed Governor of Fortifications and spent two years designing Florence's defenses against the Medici's return. When Holy Roman Emperor Charles V's forces helped the Medici recapture the city in August 1530, Michelangelo's name was on their list. He went into hiding immediately.
You are Michelangelo in late August 1530. The room is 10 meters long and 3 meters wide. The prior of San Lorenzo has shown you the trapdoor below a wardrobe in a storage room directly beneath the sacristy you designed. The ceiling is low. There is no natural light. You have charcoal in your hands because there is nothing else to do, and the walls are the only surface available. You start drawing.
He stayed for approximately two months before receiving a papal amnesty from Clement VII, the same Medici pope who had commissioned the tomb. He went back to work on the New Sacristy. The room below was sealed and used for storage. Then for coal. Then forgotten entirely.
In 1975, museum director Paolo Dal Poggetto discovered the trapdoor while looking for additional storage space. He removed two layers of plaster from the walls and found 70 or more charcoal and chalk drawings, most attributed to Michelangelo. The room had been sealed for 445 years.
It opened to the public for the FIRST time on November 15, 2023. Maximum four visitors per 15-minute slot, 100 people per week. Tickets at bargellomusei.it, 32 euros including Medici Chapels admission. The museum is open Tuesday through Sunday from 8:15 at Piazza di Madonna degli Aldobrandini 6, Florence.
The room where he hid from the Medici is directly below the room where he buried them. That is the whole story, and it is completely true.
