Further analysis of the
New Sacristy in San Lorenzo
The new Sacristy in the
Capella Medicee of San Lorenzo as already explained, serves a triple function
and was left unfinished. Although the Medici’s didn’t have the extent of power
they would have liked after the death of the two Dukes buried here, they were
still considered nobles. Thus, they called upon Michelangelo (his works were
clearly that of a status symbol) to execute their New Sacristy. Their belief
was that time may well pass, but fame will not.
Michelangelo had originally
planned for a mausoleum type structure to occupy the space. The Duke of
Nemours, Duke of Urbino, Lorenzo the Great and his brother were to be placed at
either side of the square tomb monument in the middle of the room.
As it stands now, the
tombs of Lorenzo and his brother are situated opposite the altar. The Duke of
Nemours and Duke of Urbino are placed at either side of the room. Although the
wall space in the middle never reached completion and is therefore plain,
Michelangelo was in keeping with the wishes of the Medici in that Lorenzo
and his brother are placed underneath the patron saints of the house of Medici
(St. Cosmus and St. Damien). This serves as an allusion to the former acting as
family patrons themselves, which also explains their placement directly
opposite the altar and either side of the Virgin Mary.
If facing the altar, the
tomb of Giuliano or otherwise known the Duke of Nemours is situated on the
right (Fig. 2). He was famously fond of Leonardo Da Vinci and was the brother
of Pope Leo X. His statue on top of the tomb shows him with a weapon in hand,
referring to his ‘active role’ that is contrasted with Lorenzo’s tomb statue
showing his ‘passive role’ (mentioned below). The other statues placed directly
on top of the sarcophagus portray day and night; the night figurine is shown
with a mask and owl to her side and the day figure has its back turned to us
and as claimed by Umberto Baldini, ‘the
figure is believed to derive from the Belvedere Torso’ (Fig. 3). [1]
Opposite from Giuliano
stands the tomb of Lorenzo, the Duke of Urbino. (Fig. 1). He was the nephew of
the Duke of Nemours. Lorenzo’s statue is contemplative and depicts him as
resting his elbow on what is believed to be a money box; scholars believe this
implies his role as a guardian and portrays him the more passive of the two
Dukes. Like Giuliano’s wall tomb, there are also two statues placed in a
similar way atop the sarcophagus. These two however, represent dawn and
twilight. Their iconography is not concrete, however what was found in the Archivio
Buonarroti seems to consolidate the belief that they are in fact dawn and
twilight. In studying this document which is presumably a plan for the tomb,
John Pope-Hennessey concluded that: ‘below running across the sheet, in the
positions occupied by the Allegories, is a conversation between the Times of
Day of the Sarcophagus’.[2] In
simple terms, Michelangelo had written ‘times of day’, or something to that
effect, on top of the sarcophagus in the plan. Now considering that the subject
matter of both ‘night’ and ‘day’ had already been used on the other tomb, it is
a natural assumption that the remaining two statues would therefore be ‘dawn’
and ‘dusk’. While it is arguable that they could have well been the same, it is
unlikely because Vasari notes that Michelangelo ‘wished for all parts of the
world‘ to be depicted in the New Sacristy.[3]
Therefore, it is feasible to assume that the ’Times of Day’ statues make the
following set: Dawn, Day, Dusk, Night. Rather than: ‘Day, Night, Day, Night’.
By 1519 the Duke of
Urbino (1492-1519) and Duke of Nemours (1479-1516) had both died. With these
deaths, the so called ’opportunity’ for the Medici to obtain Papal power
dwindled. They no longer had the two Dukes of whom were close to the Pope. Luckily
however, before their death the Medici’s made use of their position in
persuading the Pope to reinstate the position of their family in Florence in
1512.
[1] U. Baldini, The
Sculpture of Michelangelo (Rizzoli International Publications, 1984), 56. The
Belvedere Torso is a limbless and headless Classical statue, believed to date
around 2 AD. It is signed by an unknown Athenian sculpture ’Apollonios Son of
Nestor’. The comparison between the ‘day’ figure and the Belvedere torso is
made because Michelangelo was known to be very impressed and intrigued by this
piece.
[2] E.
Balas, Michelangelo’s Medici Chapel: A New Interpretation (Memoirs of the
American Philosophical Society), (Amer Philosophical Society, 1995), 72.
[3] E.
Balas, Michelangelo’s Medici Chapel: A New Interpretation (Memoirs of the
American Philosophical Society), (Amer Philosophical Society, 1995), 70.
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