34: The Cabinet of Italian Art

The Crouching Boy

1530 - 1534

Michelangelo

Despite its small size, this sculpture creates an impression of monumentality, unity and inner force. The image of the crouching boy is suffused with sorrow, a mood which suggest that this sole work by Michelangelo in the Hermitage was intended for the Medici Chapel in the Church of San Lorenzo, Florence.