Zentralinstitut für Kunstgeschichte
Zentralinstitut für Kunstgeschichte
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The visitor’s "normal“ view – a panorama shot of the Medici Chapel today
About the photographs
In the middle of the Second World War – and precisely because of this war – Friedrich Kriegbaum who was the director of the German Institute of Art History in Florence saw and seized a unique opportunity. Kriegbaum had long been working on a monograph on 16th century sculpture in Tuscany. And now in 1941, the Soprintendenza decided to dismantle Michelangelo's world-famous sculptures from the Cappella Medicea in the sacristy of the Church of San Lorenzo in Florence, in order to protect them from the imminent danger of air raids. This opportunity is not to be missed by Kriegbaum who, together with the responsible Italian authorities, initiates an elaborate photographic campaign for the comprehensive documentation of Michelangelo’s marble sculptures. This is the first publication of the complete set. Friedrich Kriegbaum had not been able to use the photographs for his book. Tragically, he was killed in the first British bomb attack on Florence on 25.9.1943. It was Ludwig Heinrich Heydenreich, his successor who had been appointed acting director of the Florentine Institute, to whom Kriegbaum’s family entrusted his scientific papers. Along with these papers, the photographs of Michelangelo’s sculptures came to the Zentralinstitut für Kunstgeschichte in Munich after the war: Heydenreich had been appointed as its founding director. On the initiative of Heydenreich, two of Kriegbaum’s lecture manuscripts were published on the tenth anniversary of his death in the Munich Yearbook for Fine Arts (volume III / IV). The prints, published in this online exhibit, show the photographs as found in the papers of Friedrich Kriegbaum.
The Madonna
Michelangelo Buonarotti (1475-1564) sculpted the decoration of the Medici Chapel – including this figure – between 1524 and 1533. To protect the sculptures from air raids, the decoration was dismantled in 1941. The displacement permitted spectacular shots of the unfinished piece from very unusual perspectives.
Florence, San Lorenzo, Medici Chapel Michelangelo's Madonna (1941) by Michelangelo BuonarrotiZentralinstitut für Kunstgeschichte
Front view of the Madonna from the left
Florence, San Lorenzo, Medici Chapel Michelangelo's Madonna (1941) by Michelangelo BuonarrotiZentralinstitut für Kunstgeschichte
Detail, left side view of the sculpture
Florence, San Lorenzo, Medici Chapel Michelangelo's Madonna (1941) by Michelangelo BuonarrotiZentralinstitut für Kunstgeschichte
View to the right side of the sculpture
Florence, San Lorenzo, Medici Chapel Michelangelo's Madonna (1941) by Michelangelo BuonarrotiZentralinstitut für Kunstgeschichte
View of the roughly worked marble on the back of the sculpture
The tomb of Lorenzo de' Medici
Lorenzo de' Medici – the Duke of Urbino – had died in 1519. Michelangelo decorated his tomb with an idealized figure of the deceased and the allegories of “Dusk” and “Dawn”.
Florence, San Lorenzo, Medici Chapel Florence, San Lorenzo, Medici Chapel (1941) by Michelangelo BuonarrotiZentralinstitut für Kunstgeschichte
General view of the tomb from the right (before dismantling)
Florence, San Lorenzo, Medici Chapel Florence, San Lorenzo, Medici Chapel (1941) by Michelangelo BuonarrotiZentralinstitut für Kunstgeschichte
Full view of the sculpture of Lorenzo de' Medici from the left
Florence, San Lorenzo, Medici Chapel Florence, San Lorenzo, Medici Chapel (1941) by Michelangelo BuonarrotiZentralinstitut für Kunstgeschichte
Head of Lorenzo de' Medici
Florence, San Lorenzo, Medici Chapel Florence, San Lorenzo, Medici Chapel (1941) by Michelangelo BuonarrotiZentralinstitut für Kunstgeschichte
Sculpture of Lorenzo de' Medici, side view of the harness
Florence, San Lorenzo, Medici Chapel Florence, San Lorenzo, Medici Chapel (1941) by Michelangelo BuonarrotiZentralinstitut für Kunstgeschichte
Detail, left arm of the sculpture of Lorenzo de' Medici
Florence, San Lorenzo, Medici Chapel Florence, San Lorenzo, Medici Chapel (1941) by Michelangelo BuonarrotiZentralinstitut für Kunstgeschichte
The "mouse" under the left arm of the sculpture of Lorenzo de' Medici
Florence, San Lorenzo, Medici Chapel Florence, San Lorenzo, Medici Chapel (1941) by Michelangelo BuonarrotiZentralinstitut für Kunstgeschichte
Feet of Lorenzo de' Medici
Florence, San Lorenzo, Medici Chapel Florence, San Lorenzo, Medici Chapel (1941) by Michelangelo BuonarrotiZentralinstitut für Kunstgeschichte
Full view of the sculpture of Lorenzo de' Medici, seen from behind
The tomb of Giuliano de' Medici
Giuliano de' Medici – the Duke of Nemours – had died three years before his brother, in 1516. Here, the main figure is accompanied by the allegories of “Day” and “Night”.
Florence, San Lorenzo, Medici Chapel Tomb of Giuliano de' Medici (1941) by Michelangelo BuonarrotiZentralinstitut für Kunstgeschichte
Full view of the sculpture of the Giuliano de' Medici from the front left
Florence, San Lorenzo, Medici Chapel Tomb of Giuliano de' Medici (1941) by Michelangelo BuonarrotiZentralinstitut für Kunstgeschichte
Head of Giuliano de' Medici
Florence, San Lorenzo, Medici Chapel Tomb of Giuliano de' Medici (1941) by Michelangelo BuonarrotiZentralinstitut für Kunstgeschichte
Right hand of Giuliano de' Medici
Florence, San Lorenzo, Medici Chapel Tomb of Giuliano de' Medici (1941) by Michelangelo BuonarrotiZentralinstitut für Kunstgeschichte
Back view of the harness of Giuliano de' Medici
Florence, San Lorenzo, Medici Chapel Tomb of Giuliano de' Medici (1941) by Michelangelo BuonarrotiZentralinstitut für Kunstgeschichte
Full view of the sculpture of Giuliano de' Medici, right side, seen from behind
Florence, San Lorenzo, Medici Chapel Tomb of Giuliano de' Medici (1941) by Michelangelo BuonarrotiZentralinstitut für Kunstgeschichte
Sculpture "Day", view from the front on the disassembled sculpture
Florence, San Lorenzo, Medici Chapel Tomb of Giuliano de' Medici (1941) by Michelangelo BuonarrotiZentralinstitut für Kunstgeschichte
Sculpture "Day", head
Florence, San Lorenzo, Medici Chapel Tomb of Giuliano de' Medici (1941) by Michelangelo BuonarrotiZentralinstitut für Kunstgeschichte
Sculpture "Day", partial view of the back
Florence, San Lorenzo, Medici Chapel Tomb of Giuliano de' Medici (1941) by Michelangelo BuonarrotiZentralinstitut für Kunstgeschichte
Sculpture "Night", view from the front on the disassembled sculpture
Florence, San Lorenzo, Medici Chapel Tomb of Giuliano de' Medici (1941) by Michelangelo BuonarrotiZentralinstitut für Kunstgeschichte
Sculpture "Night", view of the head in profile
Florence, San Lorenzo, Medici Chapel Tomb of Giuliano de' Medici (1941) by Michelangelo BuonarrotiZentralinstitut für Kunstgeschichte
Sculpture "Night", view from the back on the disassembled sculpture
Photothek of the Zentralinstitut für
Kunstgeschichte Munich