A first in the Netherlands: a marble sculpture by Michelangelo
The Apollo-David is coming to Teylers Museum for Michelangelo and Men (15 October 2025 up to and including 25 January 2026)
Thursday 14 August 2025
Teylers Museum has succeeded in securing the sculpture 'Apollo-David' for the exhibition 'Michelangelo and Men'. This means that a marble sculpture by Michelangelo will be coming to the Netherlands for the first time ever. The Museo Nazionale del Bargello in Florence was willing to lend it to Teylers especially for the exhibition. Curator Terry van Druten: ‘In this sculpture, all of Michelangelo’s greatest strengths come together.’
Michelangelo and Men is about Michelangelo Buonarroti’s (1475-1564) fascination with the male body. Over twenty drawings by Michelangelo from the collection of Teylers Museum - which have been in possession of the oldest museum in the Netherlands since 1790 - will be accompanied by international loans from institutions like the British Museum, the Louvre, the Uffizi, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art. And now the Apollo-David will be added to the exhibition as well. Most of Michelangelo's sculptures are in Italy, with only five of his marble sculptures on permanent display outside of that country. Of all his sculptures, only some are loaned out on very rare occasions. It is therefore a unique event - a first, in fact - that a marble sculpture by Michelangelo is shown in the Netherlands. In the exhibition, the work will be joining two small sculptures that Michelangelo made as preliminary studies in wax and wood. These loans from the collection of Casa Buonarroti in Florence were secured earlier - marking another first.
Apollo-David
The 150-centimetre-high sculpture was made by Michelangelo around 1530. Because the sculpture remained unfinished, art historians have long been in disagreement about its subject matter, identifying the figure as either the mythological god Apollo or the biblical hero David. For this reason it is still referred to as Apollo-David, even though today there is little doubt that this is in fact a depiction of Apollo. Baccio Valori, who at the time was the governor of Florence on behalf of the Medici pope Clement VII, originally commissioned Michelangelo to make the sculpture. However, when Michelangelo decided to leave the city after a change in government, he left the work unfinished. In the Apollo-David all of Michelangelo’s greatest strengths come together. With his virtuoso mastery of working in hard marble, extensive knowledge of classical sculpture, and thorough understanding of anatomy, Michelangelo was able to phenomenally render the rotating body movement of the young god as he reaches backwards to grab an arrow from the quiver on his back.
Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564), Apollo-David, ca. 1530.
Collection Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence
Complete story
Terry van Druten: ‘We are delighted that the sculpture is coming. In fact, the exhibition would not have been complete without it. Our aim is to uncover the origins of Michelangelo's famous and impactful depictions of male bodies. This is mainly done on the basis of his drawings - and Michelangelo is of course one of the most phenomenal draughtsmen in art history. It is as if you are looking over his shoulder while he is designing his iconic Creation of Adam for the Sistine Chapel. However, Michelangelo was a sculptor first and foremost. Thanks to the Apollo-David we are now able to show how all separate elements come together in his sculptural work. Not merely the technical and artistic aspects, but also his personal preference for the youthful male body, which seems to shine through in this sculpture.’
New light
Michelangelo and Men will be on view in Teylers Museum from 15 October up to and including 25 January. The exhibition sheds new light on Michelangelo’s ideas and actions and is supported by a book featuring essays by Michelangelo experts Michael Rocke, Raymond Carlson, Eric Raymond Carlson, Eric Boot, Marieke van den Doel, Jennifer Sliwka, Paul Joannides, Teylers curator Terry van Druten, and guest curators Martin Gayford and Klazina Botke. Published by Hannibal Books, the publication will be available in Dutch, English, and German.
Tickets are going on sale on 1 September. Would you like to be among the first to book your tickets? Then please sign up for our special Michelangelo newsletter before Saturday 22 August.
