(New York, January 22, 2018)—Attendance at The Metropolitan Museum of Art’s acclaimed exhibition Michelangelo: Divine Draftsman and Designer topped the milestone mark of 500,000 visitors over the weekend.
In the nine weeks since it opened on November 13, 2017, the exhibition has attracted an average of approximately 7,000 people per day. The number represents more than one-third of the total attendance at The Met Fifth Avenue during the same time period. The exhibition is on view through February 12—just 22 more days, counting today.
To celebrate the milestone, on Sunday morning a catalogue of the exhibition was presented to a visitor by the show’s curator, Dr. Carmen Bambach, Curator in The Met’s Department of Drawings and Prints.
About the Exhibition
This once-in-a-lifetime exhibition presents a stunning group of 133 drawings by Michelangelo—the largest number ever assembled—as well as three of his marble sculptures, his earliest painting, and his wood architectural model for a chapel vault. The works are on loan from 50 public and private collections.
The exhibition is made possible by Morgan Stanley.
Additional support is provided by an anonymous donor, the Gail and Parker Gilbert Fund, the Diane W. and James E. Burke Fund, Dinah Seiver and Thomas E. Foster, Cathrin M. Stickney and Mark P. Gorenberg, Ann M. Spruill and Daniel H. Cantwell, and the Mark Pigott KBE Family.
It is supported by an Indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities.
Michelangelo: Divine Draftsman and Designer, on view at The Metropolitan Museum of Art from November 13, 2017, through February 12, 2018, will present a stunning range and number of works by the artist: 133 of his drawings, 3 of his marble sculptures, his earliest painting, and his wood architectural model for a chapel vault. A substantial body of complementary works by his teachers, associates, pupils, and artists who were influenced by him or who worked in collaboration with him will also be displayed for comparison and context.
A towering genius in the history of Western art, Michelangelo was celebrated during his long life for the excellence of his disegno, the power of drawing and invention that provided the foundation for all of the arts. For his mastery of drawing, design, sculpture, painting, and architecture, he was called Il divino (“the divine one”) by his contemporaries. His powerful imagery and dazzling technical virtuosity transported viewers and imbued all of his works with a staggering force that continues to enthrall us today.
“This is an exceptionally rare opportunity to experience first-hand the unique genius of Michelangelo,” said Daniel H. Weiss, President, and CEO of The Met. “The exhibition will display the magnificent beauty of Michelangelo’s works in order to deepen our understanding of his creative process.”
The exhibition is made possible by Morgan Stanley.
Additional support is provided by an anonymous donor, the Gail and Parker Gilbert Fund, the Diane W. and James E. Burke Fund, Dinah Seiver and Thomas E. Foster, Cathrin M. Stickney and Mark P. Gorenberg, Ann M. Spruill and Daniel H. Cantwell, and the Mark Pigott KBE Family.
Selected from 50 public and private collections in the United States and Europe, the exhibition will bring together the largest group of original drawings by Michelangelo ever assembled for public display. Many of the drawings rank among the greatest works of draftsmanship produced. Extraordinary and rare international loans will include the complete series of masterpiece drawings he created for his friend Tommaso de’Cavalieri and a monumental cartoon for his last fresco in the Vatican Palace.
Michelangelo: Divine Draftsman and Designer will widen the conversation about the artist and present an extraordinary opportunity to see many works that are never displayed together. The drawing was the first thing Michelangelo turned to, whether he was creating a painting, a sculpture, or architecture, and it is what unified his career. He is a forceful draftsman and brings a sculptor’s understanding and eye. We can see him thinking—almost having a conversation on the sheet of paper—and there is a sense of intimacy and immediacy as if looking over his shoulder. The exhibition will give visitors an unmatched opportunity to enter the world of this absolute master in the history of art.
The exhibition will trace Michelangelo’s life and career, beginning with his training as a teenager in the workshop of Ghirlandaio and his earliest painting, The Torment of Saint Anthony (1487–88), and first known sculpture, Young Archer (ca. 1490). It will move on to the commission of his colossal marble sculpture David in 1501, the early planning of the Tomb of Pope Julius II, and the monumental project of painting The Last Judgment on the Sistine Ceiling. An entire gallery will be devoted to the Sistine Ceiling and will include Michelangelo’s original studies for the project.
Other sections will explore his portraiture and the beautifully finished drawings he created for close friends; his collaboration and friendship with Venetian artist Sebastiano del Piombo (1485/86–1547); and the drawings and poetry he created for the young nobleman Tommaso de’Cavalieri, whom he met in 1532 and who became a life-long friend. The artist’s last decades in Rome are reflected in the last part of the exhibition and will include, in addition to architectural drawings, the enormous cartoon (full-scale drawing) he prepared for the Crucifixion of Saint Peter fresco in the Vatican Palace, as well as a rare three-dimensional model for the vault of a chapel.
Said Dr. Bambach: “His creativity continued to be phenomenal until the end when he died at 88.”
Michelangelo: Divine Draftsman and Designer is organized by Dr. Carmen C. Bambach, Curator in The Met’s Department of Drawings and Prints.
The exhibition will be accompanied by a fully illustrated catalogue written by Dr. Bambach that will include essays by a team of leading Michelangelo scholars. It will be published by The Metropolitan Museum of Art and distributed by Yale University Press.
