Michelangelo, one of the most important painters and sculptors of the Renaissance, instructed his students to hide many of his works in a secret room so that they would be preserved forever, claims an Italian scholar.

According to the great art historian Giorgio Vasari, who was a contemporary of Michelangelo, the artist himself burned many of his works before his death in Rome in 1564.

However, researcher Valentina Salerno says she has discovered previously unpublished documents that reveal the great master hid some of them. “One of the three documents I found in the archives talks about a room”, the custody of which was entrusted to Michelangelo’s students, Salerno told AFP on the sidelines of a press conference in Rome.

“The works are hidden in this room, with so many locks that many keys are needed, so that no one can enter without the permission of others,” she said.

After a decade of searching the archives and after visiting the Vatican and several cities in Europe, including Paris, Salerno revealed that the artist’s “maniacal” plan, as she called it, was aimed “to prevent his works from falling into the hands of a grandson who hated him.” “The goal was to pass it on to his poor descendants (…) for future generations,” she explained.

Students involved in the project later founded the famous Art Academy of San Luca, which still operates today.

The researcher hypothesizes that the secret room is or was located somewhere in the Basilica of St. Peter the Immaculate in Rome, which also houses the tomb of Pope Julius II, a masterpiece by Michelangelo.

During her research, she found documents based on which a bust of Jesus Christ the Redeemer, located in the Basilica of St. Agnes in Rome and until now considered the work of an unknown artist, can be attributed to Michelangelo.

The researcher’s conclusions have not yet been confirmed by other scientists. However, Salerno is a member of the Vatican committee that organizes the celebrations for the 550th anniversary of the birth of Michelangelo.

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Source: prizrenpost