Renaissance Art

December 15, 2025

Newly Discovered Michelangelo Chalk Drawing Worth $2 Million Heads to Auction

What began as a routine online submission to Christie’s turned into an unexpected discovery. When Giada Damen, a specialist in Old Master drawings, opened a request for an auction estimate, she found a small red-chalk study of a foot, measuring about 5 inches tall. The accompanying form listed “Michelangelo” as the artist. Renaissance drawings are notoriously difficult to authenticate, often misattributed or forged, so claims like this aren’t unusual. Still, Damen decided to investigate further.

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September 1, 2025

The Renaissance Painting That Brings the Greatest Thinkers Together Across Centuries

If you have an interest in history, philosophy, or art, the names Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Raphael, and Michelangelo may sound familiar. But beyond the topical connections some of these figures might have with others, how are they all related? The answer is simple while simultaneously layered, and it starts with a fresco titled The School of Athens.

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March 1, 2025

Discover the Self-Taught Genius of Leonardo da Vinci

Although born out of wedlock—the son of a Florentine notary and his peasant mother—and sharing his childhood with 16 half-siblings from his parents' respective families, Leonardo da Vinci became one of history's most celebrated painters and engineers. One might assume that a man whose conceptual designs inspired inventions like the parachute, the machine gun, and the armored tank must have studied at a renowned academy or received advanced scientific training.

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December 14, 2024

Did Michelangelo Feature a Woman With Breast Cancer in the Sistine Chapel?

Even now, over 500 years after its completion, researchers are still unraveling the rich imagery throughout Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel fresco. The latest discovery is one that beautifully merges medical science and art history by suggesting that Michaelangelo may have featured a woman with breast cancer in his iconic fresco. Eight art historians and medical experts meticulously analyzed Michelangelo’s depictions of breasts within the fresco, primarily relying upon iconodiagnosis.

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My Modern Met

Celebrating creativity and promoting a positive culture by spotlighting the best sides of humanity—from the lighthearted and fun to the thought-provoking and enlightening.