A Restoration Show on Michelangelo at Casa Buonarroti

Until September 30, 2026: TIBERIO TITI’S RESTORED WORK OF MICHELANGELO. Casa Buonarroti, Via Ghibellina 70. Open Monday, Wednesday to Sunday from 10 am to 4.30 pm. Admission 8€. Standard tickets cost 8€, with a 5€, discounted ticket for students under 26.

At Casa Buonarroti, a newly unveiled restoration exhibition casts fresh light onto an overlooked masterpiece, where visitors get the chance to see renaissance painter Tiberio Titi’s, ‘The Placing of Michelangelo’s Bust on the Tomb at Santa Croce.’

Tiberio Titi, son of renowned renaissance painter and architect Santi di Tito, began his art career in his father’s workshop, initially painting naturalistic portraits in line with the dictates of the Council of Trent. After his father’s death, he inherited the important role as portraitist at the Medici court, an occupation which made his name and earned him commissions in other Italian cities.

Michelangelo the Younger, Michelangelo’s nephew, built and decorated Casa Buonarroti in tribute to his gifted uncle. The house was adorned with paintings by famous Florentine artists from the walls to the ceiling. Titi’s painting, completed in 1620, depicts the placement of Battista Lorenzi’s marble bust of Michelangelo on the artist’s tomb in Santa Croce, 1574. The composition puts the craftsmen in the centre of the painting, elevating their labour into a tribute to diligence and hard work – an allusion to the character of Michelangelo. The influence of Caravaggio, and his chiaroscuro (contrast in lighting), can be seen poignantly in this painting, with a dramatic light falling diagonally across the two craftsmen and the bust. This painting was placed on the ceiling, between Artemisia Gentileschi’s Allegory of Inclination, and Francesco Bianchi Bonavita’s Allegory of Inventiveness. This collection of paintings was intended as an ode to Michelangelo’s virtues and important episodes in his life.

The restoration project, pioneered by chief conservator Elizabeth Wicks, began by removing the piece from the 17 feet high ceiling. A scientific investigation which analysed the specific paint pigments originally used, preceded the removal, and revealed the original lapis lazuli for the sky, crimson colour for the sculptor’s coat, and carbon black used. Diagnostic photos were then taken to reveal the Titi’s technique, such as his specific brushwork. Infrared photos interestingly revealed the entire process of Titi, who had reworked the face of Cassandra Buonarotti, moving her higher.

After 400 years of display, and undergoing previous restoration attempts in 1875 and 1964, the painting was covered in thick layers of dirt and varnish. The thorough cleaning process not only stripped away centuries of grime and yellow resin, but also revealed the artist’s signature, which had long been hidden.

Further problems such as cracking, bulges and flaking paint were corrected in an intense process that included reaggregation of cellulose fibres using Japanese seaweed, regulating the temperature using silicon mats, application of a UV resistant varnish and attaching it to a new stretcher.

The painting is restored to its original vigour, with the brilliant colours and sharp composition made visible once again.

Casa Buonarroti is open Monday and Wednesday through to Sunday, from 10 am to 4.30 pm. Tickets grant access to the entire museum, which is filled with further renaissance masterpieces and also two sculptures by Michelangelo himself. The emotive schiacciato reliefs Madonna della Scala and La Battaglia dei Centuri, emblems of the precision and expressive power of Michelangelo, are examples of his early work. Sketches and drawings demonstrating his relentless study of the human anatomy, are also found in the museum.  (Aniela Cabut)