Michelangelo, the Truth of Stone, and Architecture beyond the Surface

Vitale Zanchettin (Rudolf Wittkower Fellow)

The research project aims to produce a volume that reworks research supported by the Bibliotheca Hertziana since 2007, developed at the Fabbrica di San Pietro and the Rheinische Friedrich Wilhelms Universität in Bonn and continued at the Kunsthistorisches Institut in Florence. As its object of study, the project focuses on the construction methods adopted by Michelangelo in using structural stone. Following modes of operation that unite Michelangelo’s early Florentine works with his final Roman works of his maturity, the volume describes more than half a century of the sculptor’s activity and examines buildings of varying dimensions, made with different stone materials, such as pietra serena, Carrara marble, peperino, and travertine. The work intends to shed light on the sculptor’s constructive conception from an analysis of how stone featured in the modalities of composition. The ultimate goal of the work is to restore a sense of how Michelangelo’s structural conception conditioned the form and architectural details of his buildings. The text is in the final drafting stage, with publication scheduled for March 2025.