Vatican: Michelangelo sketch found

[gilliam]

VATICAN CITY - A long-missing Michelangelo sketch for the dome of St. Peter’s Basilica, possibly his last design before his death, has been discovered in the basilica’s offices, the Vatican newspaper said Thursday.
The sketch, drawn in blood-red chalk for stonecutters who were working on the construction of the basilica, was done by the Renaissance master in the spring of 1563, less than a year before his death, L’Osservatore Romano reported.

“The sureness in his stroke, the expert hand used to making decisions in front of unfinished stone, leave little doubt, the sketch is Michelangelo’s,” the newspaper wrote about the discovery, which it said will be presented at a news conference at the Vatican on Monday.

news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20071206/ap_on_re_eu/vatican_michelangelo_found_2

d.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/p/ap/20071124/capt.9b56cf4d02784a3b8632404e038801a7.vatican_new_cardinals_ppc104.jpg?x=180&y=267&sig=42yKkpySqwPTsoNkX_rPGA–

 

[He_Man]

That’s cool, but sounds funny to say “was found in the Basilica’s offices.” Usually, these things are in a hidden tomb or what not.

Are the offices really that cluttered? Papal bulls and encyclicals scattered everywhere or something?

I just checked my desk, and found some cough drops, a cashew, and an old spork from Wendy’s, but I doubt any of them are Micahelangelo’s.

 

[Muzhik]

That’s cool, but sounds funny to say “was found in the Basilica’s offices.” Usually, these things are in a hidden tomb or what not.

Are the offices really that cluttered? Papal bulls and encyclicals scattered everywhere or something?

Hey, don’t scoff. If a cluttered desk is the sign of a cluttered mind, what does an empty desk mean?

Besides, the Vatican Library is about 400 years behind on its cataloging (although since they became automated in the 90’s, that backlog might be down to 300 years.)

 

[Rolltide]

That’s cool, but sounds funny to say “was found in the Basilica’s offices.” Usually, these things are in a hidden tomb or what not.

Are the offices really that cluttered? Papal bulls and encyclicals scattered everywhere or something?

I just checked my desk, and found some cough drops, a cashew, and an old spork from Wendy’s, but I doubt any of them are Micahelangelo’s.

LOL

The Vatican is very large (even if it’s the world’s smallest country). Take the museums alone. The museums are broken up into four sections. My brother spent several days visiting Rome, and it took him almost a week to see everything. He had finished three out of the four Vatican Museums, and had about an hour left before close. The only museum left to see was the “Modern” art museum, which is primarily contemporary art of the last century. Figuring, “How large could THAT possibly be”, he proceeded to pick up the audio tour headphones. Entering the first gallery, he started the audio tour program, which immediately comes on to say something to the effect of, “Welcome to the Vatican City Museum of Contemporary Art. As this tour proceeds through the NINETY-THREE various galleries…” LOL

I think the average time to complete this tour alone is 6 hours!

 

[b_justb]

I loved this part:

L’Osservatore Roman said most sketches done by Michelangelo for the stonecutters were destroyed or lost in the cutters’ workplaces, but this one survived because a supervisor used the back of the sketch to make notes about problems linked to the stone’s transport through the outskirts of Rome.

HAHAHAHAHA the only reason this scketch survived is because some one scibbled their grippes on it. That’s just classic. Some things never change.