Rarely-seen sketches of Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel frescoes now on display in the US Rarely-seen sketches of Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel frescoes now on display in the US

As a publication that encourages people to go off the beaten track, travelling off-season or to lesser-known destinations, there are few crowds that we consider worth suffering through. The crowd in the Sistine Chapel is one of them.

The silence while visiting might technically be enforced, but we’re convinced Michelangelo’s work would have that effect on the masses anyway: The frescoes really are that awe-inspiring.

There are more than 300 figures depicted in the ceiling, and the Renaissance master spent four years after the commission to complete the work.

During that time, he completed hundreds of sketches, later destroying the majority of them. Today, less than 50 remain – and you can now see nearly half of them at a new exhibition at the Muscarelle Museum of Art in Williamsburg, Virginia.

Opened to commemorate the 550th anniversary of Michelangelo’s birth, Michelangelo: The Genesis of the Sistine marks the global debut of a drawing believed to be Michelangelo’s first sketch in preparation for the Sistine Chapel ceiling.

The exhibition also features seven drawings from Michelangelo’s initial concept for the ceiling that was later abandoned, none of which have ever been shown in the US before.

Adriano Marinazzo, the Muscarelle’s curator of special projects, said of the exhibition, “Michelangelo: The Genesis of the Sistine offers an unprecedented glimpse into the mind of one of the most famous artists in the world, revealing the unfiltered thoughts, ideas, struggles and breakthroughs that shaped one of history’s greatest masterpieces – the frescoes of the Sistine Chapel ceiling.”

Life-size reproductions of the frescoes will be displayed alongside the initial sketches. Visitors will also be able to see two self-portrait sketches of Michelangelo while he was painting the ceiling, and the famous portrait of the artist by Giuliano Bugiardini.

The exhibition will be on display until 28 May 2025.

Muscarelle Museum of Art closed in December 2022 for a major renovation, with the expanded building reopening in early February. Part of the College of William & Mary, the permanent collection is among the oldest of its kind in the US, having begun with the university’s first art donations in 1732.

More information: muscarelle.wm.edu

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