arts
March 6, 2026
Christ the Savior bust, previously attributed to an unknown author, is now credited to master Michelangelo
After ten years of research into an archival collection of wills, letters, diaries, historical and travel books, notarial inventories, and documents, researchers claim to have reattributed to Michelangelo a sculpture, specifically a bust of Christ the Savior, preserved for centuries in the Basilica di Sant’Agnese fuori le mura in Rome.
TL;DR
- Researchers claim to have reattributed a bust of Christ the Savior in Rome's Basilica di Sant’Agnese fuori le mura to Michelangelo.
- The attribution is based on ten years of research into archival documents, including wills, letters, and diaries, dating back to 1564.
- The bust may represent Tommaso de' Cavalieri, a close friend of Michelangelo, around 1534.
- This research challenges the notion that Michelangelo destroyed his late-life works, suggesting they were instead entrusted to friends and students.
- The sculpture's attribution was lost in the early 19th century and it later disappeared from expert literature after World War II.
- The research aims to spark further investigation into Michelangelo's potentially lost works from his final period.
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