Michelangelo Drawings: Closer to the Master

Michelangelo Drawings Closer to the Master
The first Michelangelo exhibition at the British Museum in thirty years, Michelangelo Drawings: closer to the master offers an extraordinary insight into the creative thinking of one of the greatest artists of the Renaissance.

Sponsored by BP, the exhibition spotlights Michelangelo's particular brilliance as a draftsman.

The Florentine fulfilled the Renaissance ideal of universal artistic genius, excelling as a sculptor, painter and architect.

The common strand linking his achievements is drawing, as the originality of his works in paint, marble or architectural design was arrived at only after an exhaustive process of refinement on paper.

The central importance of drawing remained a constant in Michelangelo's artistic practice, and it is only through this medium that the course of his career can be comprehensively followed.

From pen studies made when he was in his early twenties to the visionary Crucifixion scenes carried out six decades later shortly before his death, this exhibition reunites material not seen together since the posthumous dispersal of his studio in 1564.

It offers a unique opportunity to gain an understanding of Michelangelo's remarkable artistic powers, and to witness the invention and development of some of his most celebrated works.