A Masterpiece by Michelangelo May Have Been Hidden for Centuries Within the Walls of a Local Church in Tuscany, Near Florence, Italy.
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The painting Pietà is believed to be by Michelangelo. (Photo: Discovery) |
The fresco, located on the altar of the Santa Maria Church in the Chianti village of Marcialla (45 km south of Florence), is named Pietà and depicts the grief of the people over the death of Jesus Christ.
The residents of this village have long claimed that the artwork was painted by Michelangelo when he was young. However, the first concrete evidence supporting this theory was only recently uncovered when a 60-year-old local confessed to Father Rosario Palumbo that he had seen a signature behind the painting while playing around the altar as a boy.
This confession led Father Palumbo to investigate behind the altar. When a tile was removed, a signature consisting of the intertwined letters M, B, and F appeared.
“It is a unique intertwined signature. It could be an abbreviation for Michelangelus Buonarrotus Facibat (Michelangelo Buonarroti created this work), or Michelangelo Buonarroti Florentine,” noted Robert Schoen, an American scholar.
Schoen, who discovered Michelangelo’s lost Cupid in New York in 1984, has been studying the artwork in Marcialla for the past four years. According to Schoen, the intertwined signature of this piece is similar to signatures on many other works by the master, such as the engraved signature on the Roman Pietà, the letters on the semicircular door of the Sistine Chapel, and on the model of the crucifix featuring Jesus in the Santo Spirito Church in Florence.
“The Pietà in Marcialla is significant for understanding the development of Michelangelo’s talent, as it includes two figures holding the cross on either side, who were thieves transformed into saints by the mercy of Jesus. This reflects the ambitious nature and the deep thoughts of the artist,” Schoen stated.
Michelangelo may have painted this artwork after the fall of the Medici family in January 1494. At that time, the artist was forced to move to Florence. According to local accounts, he sought refuge in Marcialla, under the protection of the monks.
M.T.
