Then in 1996, an art historian identified it as a Michelangelo. PhotoWith this sculpture, he had found what would be his favorite subject, and the one that would make his name: the heroic male body. If Michelangelo didn’t coin the term, he (with a reluctant nod to Leonardo da Vinci) coined the type. Michelangelo benefited mightily from this elevation of the artist from workshop drone to deity (and brand). This is true of a gallery devoted to fanciful “divine heads,” including one of a doleful Cleopatra, that the middle-aged artist made as gifts for young male aristocrats — Gherardo Perini, Andrea Quaratesi, Tommaso de’ Cavalieri — on whom he had developed crushes.

Source: New York Times November 09, 2017 18:45 UTC