Il Penseroso

Speranza



Michelangelo was employed from 1523 to 1531 to build the New Sacristy of the church of S. Lorenzo.

The statue of Lorenzo de' Medici is in an attitude of medidation.

The Italians call the figure Lorenzo "Il Penseroso".

Lorenzo's face is overshadowed by the beaver of his helmet, leading the poet Samuel Rogers to think it hid a skull.

Lorenzo is the embodiment of oppressive thought.