Unique loans from abroad for Michelangelo and Men at Teylers Museum
Thursday 15 May 2025
Especially for the exhibition 'Michelangelo and Men', which will be on view at Teylers Museum from 15 October 2025 up to and including 25 January 2026, a number of unique loans from around the world will be coming to Haarlem. A letter from Michelangelo to the love of his life, the last small wooden sculpture he ever made, as well as an extraordinary preliminary study for an androgenous figure in the Sistine Chapel: many of these works will be shown in the Netherlands for the very first time. They all zoom in on the male physique: from idealized, muscular bodies aspiring to the divine perfection of Adam, to a fragile depiction of the body of Christ, which Michelangelo made near the end of his deeply religious life.
Multiple perspectives
Michelangelo Buonarotti (1475-1564) was fascinated by the male body. It plays a role in nearly all his artworks, often portrayed naked, muscular, and in provocative poses. Michelangelo and Men examines the importance of the male physique in Michelangelo’s work and life from all angles: from the impact his predecessors and classical antiquity had on his work, to his own extensive anatomical knowledge and use of male models. Also highlighted is the theoretical and religious significance of the male body to Michelangelo, as well as his personal preference for men. This will be the first exhibition entirely dedicated to Michelangelo and the male body.
Top-class drawings
Since the museum’s earliest beginnings, 22 top-class drawings from Michelangelo's oeuvre have been part of Teylers’ collection. These were taken as the point of departure for Michelangelo and Men. They will be accompanied by 40 unique loans, including a number of internationally renowned drawings, as well as sculptures, letters, a book, and various drawings and prints by Michelangelo’s friends, pupils, and followers. In the exhibition, all these works combined will offer unique perspectives on the subject matter.
Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564), A Male Nude (after Masaccio) and Two Other Figures, c. 1492-1496. Michelangelo based the detailed man in the centre on a fresco by the important Renaissance artist Masaccio (1401-1428).
Private collection
Influenced by predecessors
Among the exhibited works is the earliest known study of a male nude by Michelangelo, made before he reached the age of 20. The drawing shows how closely he studied the work of the generations that went before him, while his characteristic, easy touch and originality are already clearly visible as well. A private collector managed to acquire the drawing in 2022 and was willing to loan it to the museum for this exhibition.
Between man and woman
Michelangelo closely studied the work of other artists, as well as sculptures from classical antiquity. He worked with living (male) models, which was common practice at that time. But he was also one of the first artists to dissect dead people himself. He did so to better understand the human physique, allowing him to put each individual muscle in its rightful place in his search for the ideal body.
Part of the collection of The Metropolitan Museum in New York is Michelangelo’s study for the Libyan Sibyl (ca. 1511) in the Sistine Chapel, a work that will be coming to the Netherlands for the very first time. This Libyan Sibyl, a depiction of one of five female prophets who were said to have foretold the coming of Christ, clearly displays male characteristics. She was most likely drawn after a male model. Michelangelo appears to have consciously chosen to make some of his figures androgenous, giving them a mysterious and superhuman appearance that transcends male or female. Another good example of this is his study for the head of Leda (ca. 1530), from the collection of Casa Buonarroti in Florence, for which he probably also used a young male model.
Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564), Studies for the Libyan Sibyl for the Sistine Ceiling, c. 1511. Michelangelo used the male characteristics of his model to accentuate the superhuman status of the Sibyl.
Collection The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York
Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564), Studies for the Head of Leda, c. 1530. The model for Leda was also most likely a young man, wearing the clothes of a workshop assistant.
Collection Casa Buonarroti, Florence
Lover
Casa Buonarroti is also lending the museum various letters between Michelangelo and Tommaso de’ Cavalieri, a young nobleman the artist had met in 1532 and fell madly in love with. They exchanged numerous letters, with Michelangelo also sending Tommaso poems and drawings. Most likely, the artist also created the exquisitely detailed drawing The Dream (1532) for Tommaso. The work contains a lot of mythological and philosophical references and is one of the greatest treasures from the collection of The Courtauld Gallery in London, now coming to the Netherlands.
Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564), The Dream, c. 1533. Michelangelo possibly created this richly detailed drawing especially for Tommaso de’ Cavalieri. Although the drawing was intended as a personal gift, it instantly became famous.
Collection The Courtauld Gallery, Londen
Attributed to Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564), Study for a Crucifixion, c. 1562-1563
Collection Casa Buonarroti, Florence
The body of Christ
Michelangelo was a deeply religious man. He depicted the body of Christ in a softer style and with more emotions than other, idealized, muscular bodies. This reflects his personal adoration of Christ. The same goes for the wooden model for a crucified Christ (ca. 1562-1563) from the collection of Casa Buonarroti, which will also be coming to Haarlem. The artist made this small sculpture during the final years of his life, possibly for his family.
Anniversary year
Apart from the aforementioned museums, The Royal Collection at Windsor Castle, The British Museum in London, the Uffizi in Florence, the Ashmolean Museum in Oxford, the Earl of Leicester at Holkham Hall, and the Louvre in Paris will be lending important works from their collections. And the Rijksmuseum Amsterdam and RKD — Netherlands Institute for Art History are lending works to Teylers Museum as well. In this anniversary year, 550 years after Michelangelo's birth, this will be a unique, once in a lifetime opportunity to see all these phenomenal artworks by Michelangelo together in the Netherlands. Architect Afaina de Jong is responsible for the exhibition design. With her studio AFARAI, she previously designed projects like the Slavery Exhibition at the Rijksmuseum. Her design concept is aimed at creating new ways of looking at Michelangelo’s work.
Book
Michelangelo and Men sheds new light on Michelangelo’s ideas and actions and is accompanied 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. The book will be available in Dutch, English, and German and is published by Hannibal Books.
Newsletter
From today you can sign up for Teylers Museum’s special Michelangelo newsletter. Receive updates about all the news surrounding the exhibition and be the first to book tickets, before the official start of tickets sales (1 September).
