- Sep1533
San Miniato al Tedesco
22. September 1533
September 1533: Pope Clement VII, together with 13 cardinals and a huge host of bishops and members of the papal court, is on his way to the wedding of his relative Catherine de’ Medici to Henry, the future King Henry II of France. Before boarding the 40 ships making the arduous crossing to Nice, the […]
- Sep1534
25 September 1534 – Rome
25. September 1534
Clement VII dies. His successor, Paul III, is elected Pope on 13 October 1534.
- Nov1534
3 November 1534 – Rome
3. November 1534
Pope Paul III, accompanied by 10 cardinals, visits Michelangelo’s house on Via Marcel de Corvi. He wants to see the draft made by Michelangelo before painting begins. Michelangelo shows him the bozzetto. The Pope is enthusiastic about the composition and approves the commission given by his predecessor “to transfer it, as it is, to the […]
- Oct1541
31 October 1541 – Rome/The Vatican
31. October 1541
Ceremonial unveiling of Michelangelo’s The Last Judgment in the Sistine Chapel. The bozzetto is then put on display in an antechamber of the Sistine Chapel and can be viewed by the public. Behind closed doors pilgrims say that the bozzetto “has magic healing powers”.
- Dec1546
Christmas 1546 – Rome
24. December 1546
Cardinal Alessandro Farnese, the Pope’s grandson who officially presented the bozzetto in the Vatican, removes it from its rightful place and gifts it to his beloved, the Roman poet Vittoria Colonna. Pope Paul III, with his grandson Cardinal Alessandro Farnese on the left
- Feb1547
December 1544 – Rome to 25 February 1547 – Palazzo Colonna
25. February 1547
Vittoria Colonna, Michelangelo’s muse, accepts the Cardinal’s generous gift as a memento. However, she is targeted by the Roman Inquisition, causing a considerable religious conflict. Vittoria Colonna dies in her palace in Rome on 25 February 1547, leaving the bozzetto in the care of her only remaining friend, Marguerite of Angoulême, Queen of Navarre. Marguerite […]
- Aug1570
Château de Pau, Kingdom of Navarre
7. August 1570
This is where Henry of Navarre becomes an important military leader of the Huguenots.
- Aug1572
15 August 1572 – Paris
15. August 1572
The bozzetto accompanies Henry of Navarre to Paris and there shows its gruesome side on 23 August.
- May1574
30 May 1574 – Paris
30. May 1574
King Charles IX of France dies of insanity at only 23. The bozzetto’s revenge: an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth.
- Jul1593
25 July 1593 – Basilica of Saint Denis
25. July 1593
Henry of Navarre is crowned King Henry IV of France. “Paris is certainly worth a mass!”
- May1610
14 May 1610 – Paris
14. May 1610
Rue de la Ferronnerie, the site of the death of a liar: Henry IV is assassinated.
- Jul1614
28 July 1614 – Dominican monastery, Paris
28. July 1614
At the request of Marie de’ Medici, the Dominican prior and French inquisitor Sébastien Michaëlis banishes the bozzetto to his monastery.
- Dec1789
21 December 1789 – Dominican monastery, Paris
21. December 1789
The Dominican monastery on Rue Saint-Honoré becomes a meeting place during the French Revolution and awakens the bozzetto. It triggers the bizarre transformation of Maximilien Robespierre.
- Jul1794
- Jul1944
28 July 1944 – Dominican monastery, Paris
28. July 1944
Nazi art thieves in Paris rediscover the bozzetto. It becomes part of Reichsleiter Rosenberg’s treacherous plan to “save the Third Reich”.
- Aug1949
1949 onwards – Bern, Basel, Zürich
18. August 1949
The bozzetto’s bloody journey goes on. Driven by greed and lust for power, people continue to search for the legendary wood panel, leaving intrigue, murder and the destruction of livelihoods in its wake. The bozzetto’s trail leads to Switzerland.
- Oct2014
7 October 2014 – Frankfurt
7. October 2014
Release of Bozzetto, the novel detailing the gripping hunt for Michelangelo’s magical draft model. The novel is published by Weissbooks and is released to the general public during the Frankfurt Book Fair (8 to 13 October 2014).