The Muscarelle Museum of Art at William & Mary transports visitors to Renaissance Italy and commemorates the 550th anniversary of Michelangelo’s birth with “Michelangelo: The Genesis of the Sistine,” on view March 6-May 28, 2025. The groundbreaking exhibition, exclusively on view at the Muscarelle, unveils new discoveries about the artist’s work and offers the rare opportunity to behold 25 masterpiece drawings for the Sistine Chapel ceiling and “The Last Judgement.” The exhibition also features engravings, lithographs and other materials showcasing the origin story of the artist’s greatest works.
“The Genesis of the Sistine” will be among the first exhibitions presented in the expanded Muscarelle Museum of Art, opening Feb. 8, 2025. The renovated building, designed by Pelli Clarke & Partners, increases the Museum’s footprint by more than 42,000 square feet and blends historic traditions with contemporary design. The new facility, named the Martha Wren Briggs Center for the Visual Arts after lead donor Martha Wren Briggs ’55, triples the Museum’s exhibition capacity and reimagines interior and exterior spaces to optimize the visitor experience.
Image credit: Michelangelo, “Study for the Last Judgement.” Florence, Uffizi Galleries.
