Maksim Kostyria
Saint Petersburg State University, Russia
The Medici Chapel (or the New Sacristy) of the Florentine Church of San Lorenzo (1520–1534) is one of the greatest masterpieces of Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475–1564) and of the Renaissance art as a whole. At the same time, it is one of the most enigmatic and polysemantic works of the Renaissance. The abundance of concepts of “decoding” of the New Sacristy’s imagery proposed by researchers does not exhaust the depth of its content, and leaves space for new interpretations.
The report focuses on the analysis of the semantic structure of the Medici Chapel. During the reconstruction of the completeness of Michelangelo’s design the author examines architectural, sculptural and pictorial elements, both implemented and not implemented, from which the ensemble of the Medici Chapel was drawn.
Michelangelo’s masterpiece is considered in connection with the views of Plato, Dante and Savonarola (with a focus on the last two names). The author proposes a new look at the range of ideas. According to him, the concept of the chapel is largely determined by the idea of the Last Judgment. In the new interpretation of the ensemble crucial role is played by the sculptures of four Hours of Day. Master reinterpreted the cyclical nature of these images, relating them to the Apocalypse and the idea of posthumous retribution.