Brazilian scholar identified a link between Michelangelo and the Holy Shroud
The Brazilian researcher Átila Soares published this week in a Brazilian magazine a study on the implications of the #Shroud in #Michelangelo's work. In the article Soares revealed six clues that would confirm a very probable link between "the greatest sacred artist in history and the greatest of sacred relics".
In the study Soares reveals a surprising similarity between the face of Christ portrayed in a painting based on a drawing by Michelangelo and the face of the Holy Shroud.
The painting Oration in the Garden of Gethsemane comes from a well-known disciple of Michelangelo, Marcello Venusti, a painter born in Mazzo di Valtellina (Sondrio) in 1512. The painting is inspired by the original drawing by Michelangelo Oration in the Garden of Olives, which today is located at the Uffizi in Florence and is unfortunately in a poor state of conservation.
According to Soares,
"being a fan of contortionist, dynamic and vibrant images, it was rather unusual that the artist chose to represent a static face, in an absolutely frontal, protocol state"
He also draws attention to how rare it was in Renaissance art to present Christ in prayer with his eyes closed – just like in the Shroud – in the episode of the agony in Gethsemane:
“A project consciously inspired by the Shroud face seems to make sense and would explain this choice”
concludes the author of the discover.
In 2021 Soares identified the body of the "man of the Shroud" in the "Christ of Lecco", a 16th century sanguine drawing strongly attributable to Leonardo da Vinci. Privately owned, this drawing on paper, measuring 24 x 16.8 cm with a thickness of 0.2 cm, portrays a man with long hair and beard – a figure very similar to that of Jesus Christ.
Hidden in the hair, the researcher found the figure of a naked man, in the same and identical position as the one present on the Shroud - in side view. The figure is only visible upside down.
Átila Soares is a teacher, researcher, writer, expert and evaluator of works of art. He has a degree in Industrial Design from the Pontifícia Universidade Católica of Rio de Janeiro and several postgraduate qualifications in History, Philosophy, Medieval Church, Art History, Anthropology, Sociology, Archeology and Cultural Heritage. He is also a collaborator in the magazine Humanitas (Ed. Escala, São Paulo) and on the websites Italia Medievale (Milan) and Nova Acrópole (Lisbon). He is part of the scientific committee of the Mona Lisa Foundation (Zurich), of the Leonardo da Vinci Foundation (Milan) and of the project L'Invisibile nell'Arte - National Committee for the Valorization of Historical, Cultural and Environmental Heritage (edited by the historian Silvano Vinceti , Rome). He is the author of four books: “The Young Mona Lisa and other intriguing questions about the history of art” (2013); “Leonardo da Vinci's Earlier Mona Lisa” (co-author, 2016), edited by art historian, Stanley Feldman; “Leonardo and the Shroud and other curious questions about Art and History” (2016); and “Leonardo Da Vinci Mona Lisa: New Perspectives” (co-author, 2019), edited by Prof. Jean-Pierre Isbouts.
