Two "lost" statues have been identified as original Michelangelo sculptures, experts claim, as they attribute the only surviving bronzes by the master.
The pair, which show naked young men riding panthers, are described as “phenomenally important” and, if real, would solve one of the great mysteries in the history of art.
They have been attributed to Michelangelo following a clue in a little-known 500-year-old drawing, which made the link between the figures made of bronze and an incomplete sketch from the days of the artist’s workshop.
They could now become the only surviving bronzes attributed to Michelangelo, as academics at the University of Cambridge and the Fitzwilliam Museum publicly declare their find.
The statues, which have been well-known as the Rothschild Bronzes for many years, will now go on display at the museum, along with published evidence the authors claim proves their origins.
Critics, experts and members of the public will now be invited to share their own views on the strength of the claims, before a public conference later this year aims to reach a consensus about the creator of the statues.
Michelangelo is known to have made at least two bronze statues, a nine-foot high figure of Pope Julius II and a version of David, but both have since been destroyed.
Martin Gayford, the art critic, has called the possibility of finding a surviving bronze one of the “most intriguing possibilities in art history”.
The two bronzes in question, two nude men of differing ages riding lithe panthers, were once attributed to Michelangelo in the 19th century, before the claim was dismissed at a Paris exhibition in 1878.
Since then, it has been credited to various other, lesser-known sculptors, and was held in private collections for years before going on display at the Royal Academy in 2012.
There, they came to the attention of scholars who believed the attribution should be re-examined.
Prof Paul Joannides, Emeritus Professor of Art History at the University of Cambridge, recognised the shape of the bronzes matched a small sketch in a drawing by one of Michelangelo’s apprentices, held in the Musée Fabre, Montpellier, France.
The ‘Sheet of studies with Virgin embracing Infant Jesus' (c.1508) is understood to be a student’s faithful copy of various, slightly earlier sketches by Michelangelo, which have now been lost to history.
Once the match was found, the anatomy and style of the bronzes were compared to known works by Michelangelo and found to be “very similar” to his works of 1500–1510.
Poses, the depiction of muscle and the physical likeness were linked from bronze to Michelangelo, as authors concluded the evidence pointed toward the artist.
In one corner is a composition of a muscular youth riding a panther, which is very similar in pose to the bronzes, and drawn in the abrupt, forceful manner that Michelangelo employed in designs for sculpture.
A clinical anatomist, Professor Peter Abrahams, was brought in to examine the statues, and noted the anatomy of the figures is “incredibly accurate and well understood”, so “perfect” as to suggest only Michelangelo or Leonardo Da Vinci would have had the ability to complete them.
Conservation scientists were also brought in to work, studying the bronzes under microscope and neutron imaging.
The findings will be publicised today (Monday), at a press conference in Cambridge in which academics are invited to inspect the statues and weigh up the evidence.
Dr Victoria Avery, keeper of the applied arts department of the Fitzwilliam Museum, said: “It has been fantastically exciting to have been able to participate in this ground-breaking project, which has involved input from many art-historians in the UK, Europe and the States, and to draw on evidence from conservation scientists and anatomists.
“The bronzes are exceptionally powerful and compelling works of art that deserve close-up study – we hope the public will come and examine them for themselves, and engage with this ongoing debate.”
The bronzes have now gone on display in advance of the Fitzwilliam Museum’s bicentenary in 2016, along with a selection of the offered evidence in Michelangelo’s favour.
(Telegraph)
