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Michelangelo sketch for St. Peter’s dome

VATICAN CITY: A Michelangelo sketch for the dome of St. Peter’s Basilica, possibly his last design before death, has been found in the basilica’s offices.

The sketch, in blood-red chalk for stonecutters who were working on the construction of the basilica, was drawn by the Renaissance artist in the spring of 1563, less than a year before his death, L’Osservatore Romano reported. “The sureness in his stroke, the expert hand used to making decisions in front of unfinished stone, leave little doubt, the sketch is Michelangelo’s,” it wrote.

The sketch showed how aged 90 and without going regularly to the construction site, he “continued to take binding decisions” on how work was carried out. The sketch “now becomes the last known design of the artist.”

Michelangelo, who began working on the basilica’s construction in 1547, was in his late 80s when he did the sketch. The sketch is especially rare because the artist ordered many of his designs destroyed when he advanced in years. L’Osservatore Romano said most sketches by Michelangelo for the stonecutters were destroyed or lost in the cutters’ workplaces. But this one survived because a supervisor, possibly on the stonecutters’ premises, used the back of the sketch to make notes about problems linked to the stone’s transport through the outskirts of Rome.

Michelangelo completed the dome and four columns for its base before he died in February 1564. — AP

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Michelangelo sketch for St. Peter’s dome

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