Bust of Michelangelo Buonarroti the Younger

The best of Finelli’s portraits, such as that of Michelangelo Buonarroti the Younger, a descendant of Michelangelo, revels in an almost miraculous evocation of hair, hands and fabric. The sitter is portrayed here with that lively, arrogant style that characterizes the best Florentine statuary of the seventeenth century.

Michelangelo Buonarroti the Younger was the great-nephew of Michelangelo who conceived the idea in 1612 of creating a residence to celebrate his illustrious ancestor. The noble house with its exhibits at 70, Via Ghibellina, Florence, was achieved over a 30-year span.