Michelangelo’s cartoon, its conservation and related painting

Join Sarah Vowles and Grant Lewis, curators of Michelangelo: the last decades, in conversation with prints and drawings curator Daniel Godfrey and Senior Conservator Emma Turner as they discuss a rare Michelangelo cartoon and the painting based on it, which have been reunited after nearly 500 years. The Epifania, an outstandingly large drawing made in about 1550–53 by Michelangelo (1475–1564), stands two metres high and is made of 26 sheets of paper spliced together. It is a cartoon – a 1:1 scale preparatory drawing for another work of art – and was the basis of an unfinished painting by Michelangelo’s biographer and fellow artist, Ascanio Condivi (1525–74). The painting is held by the Casa Buonarroti in Florence and, for the first time in five centuries, the cartoon and this painting are shown side by side, in the British Museum exhibition Michelangelo: the last decades. The panellists will explore what was revealed during the cartoon’s recent, lengthy conservation at the British Museum; the provenance of both the drawing and Condivi’s oil painting; and interpretations of the subject matter. Funding for the conservation of the Epifania cartoon was generously provided through a grant from the Bank of America Art Conservation Project. This event is part of the public programme supporting the Michelangelo: the last decades exhibition (open until 28 July). More information about the exhibition can be found here: Sign up to our newsletters for the latest news on our work, stories about the collection and upcoming events: We’re bringing inspiring stories of humanity’s shared histories and cultural achievements to millions of people online. Your support ensures that we can continue to make the collection and videos like this one available to as many people as possible. If you can, please donate today: or you can text BMLEARN to 70085. Texts cost £5 plus one standard rate message. Please see our social media code of conduct: Image: Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475–1564), detail from the ’Epifania’ before conservation treatment. Black chalk on paper, 1550–53.