Secret room mystery reignites search for Michelangelo’s lost works

New works by Michelangelo Buonarroti, previously little known or of uncertain authenticity, have now been reconnected to the Renaissance master.

As reported by Il Messaggero, this is the result of research conducted by independent Roman scholar Valentina Salerno. In her study “Michelangelo gli ultimi giorni” (“Michelangelo: The Last Days”), she reconstructed the artist’s final period of life by comparing dozens of documents from various Italian and foreign archives, CE Report quotes ANSA.

Her findings suggest that Michelangelo did not destroy the hundreds of sketches, drawings, and sculptures he kept in his Roman home, as long believed. Instead, he entrusted students and friends with the task of safeguarding his works in a secret location.

“One of the documents we found describes the existence of a room where certain goods were hidden,” the researcher explained. “It contained material so valuable that a multiple-key system was required to open it.” However, the room has reportedly been empty for over 400 years.

This discovery has sparked a renewed search for Michelangelo’s dispersed works, which may now be more easily attributed to him.

Salerno’s research was supported by the Canons Regular of the Lateran of the Most Holy Savior and by Professor Michele Rak, and it also drew the attention of Cardinal Mauro Gambetti, Archpriest of St. Peter's Basilica. Gambetti established a scientific committee made up of leading experts from major museums around the world, which reportedly continued its work even during the Conclave.

At a February 5 auction at Christie's in London, where a sketch of the foot of the Libyan Sibyl was sold, the auction house’s historians followed the same attribution trail identified by Salerno. She said she “felt her heart leap” when she saw the news.