Michelangelo's New Sacristy, where Night and Day keep watch over the Medici tombs
Behind the basilica of San Lorenzo, the family church of the Medici, lie the Medici Chapels. The first is the vast Chapel of the Princes, an octagon lined entirely with precious marble and semi-precious stones, a masterpiece of Florentine inlay, where the grand dukes are buried.
The second is the New Sacristy, Michelangelo's first architectural work, begun in 1520. Here he sculpted the tombs of Lorenzo and Giuliano de' Medici with the reclining figures of Night and Day and Dawn and Dusk, among the most intense he ever made. In a small room below, rediscovered in 1975, there are charcoal drawings on the walls attributed to Michelangelo himself, who hid there in 1530.
Tip: the hidden room can be visited only in small groups by reservation; nearby, the San Lorenzo market and the Laurentian Library, also by Michelangelo, complete the visit.
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