The Life and Times of
Michelangelo

The Medici Chapel

In 1520 Michelangelo began work on the Medici Chapels, an appendix to San Lorenzo, where Brunelleschi had already left his mark, building the so-called "Old Sacristy." Michelangelo was to build the "New Sacristy", where four of the Medici were buried (the third chapel, known as "The Chapel of the Princes", is a later addition). Leon X died, on 1 December 1521, at the age of 45, being followed by Adrian VI, who would have had the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel destroyed, as he considered it immoral. Fortunately for posterity, he too was dead By 1523, before this project could be carried out.

During the pontificate of Adrian, all work on the New Sacristy was interrupted and it was only after the election of Clement VII, another Medici, that work on the project was resumed, in 1524. The New Sacristy is considered, together with the Laurentian Library, as a turning-point in architectural history. The sculptural decoration of the chapel, an integral part of the architecture, was never completed, although the figures of Giuliano and Lorenzo de' Medici set over their tombs, symbolizing the Active and the Contemplative Life, above the symbols of Time and Mortality (Day and Night, Dawn and Evening) are among his finest creations. The unfinished Madonna was meant to be the focal point of the chapel.

For illustrations of the Medici Chapel, please click bellow: