NYC’s MET Museum Digitally Recreates Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel

A 360 tour with Carmen C. Bambach, who curated “Michelangelo: Divine Draftsman and Designer” at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. By JEAN YVES CHAINON on Publish Date November 8, 2017. Photo by Jean Yves Chainon / The New York Times. Technology by Samsung.

The New York Times calls it the “must-see show” of the season: Michelangelo: Divine Draftsman and Designer Metropolitan Museum of Art opens today and features 133 core drawings by celebrated Renaissance artist, Michelangelo Buonarroti. The exhibition, which examines Michelangelo’s legacy and evolution, is the largest body of his original drawings ever assembled. In addition to his drawings, it includes his early paintings, three of his marble sculptures, a wood model for a chapel vault and a body of complementary works by other artists that were compiled through international loans, as well as public and private collections across the United States and Europe.

“The attempt is to widen the conversation about Michelangelo,” notes exhibition curator Carmen C. Bambach in a MET video. From quick sketches to completed drawings, the range of works presented have been brought together from notable institutions around the world, including the Louvre and the Uffizi: “It’s an extraordinary opportunity to see many works from 53 different museums and collections that are never seen together,” says Bambach. It’s a non-extendable, three-month showcase — one that is unlikely to be repeated once the exhibition ends in February 2018.

From his very first painting, “The Torment of Saint Anthony” (completed in 1488) to his firs known sculpture “Young Archer,” to his lauded sculpture of “David” and “The Last Judgement” fresco, the expansive exhibition allows visitors to follow Michelangelo’s life’s work, and even include some of his personal drawings made for close friends.

To complete the exhibition and crown “Il divino’s” work, the MET has placed a digital reproduction of the Sistine Chapel scaled down on the ceiling of the exhibition space, encapsulating Bambach’s goal for a truly immersive revisit into the original Renaissance concept of design.

“Michelangelo: Divine Draftsman and Designer” will be on view today through Feb. 12 at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Next, check out 14 Art Installations and Exhibits in NYC Not to Miss in November and see Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel Paintings, Formerly Inside the World Trade Center Oculus.