Visitors will be allowed in Florence chapel’s secret room to ponder if drawings are Michelangelo’s

By LUIGI NAVARRO
Associated Press

FLORENCE, Italy (AP) — Just four at a time, visitors soon will be allowed access to a long-hidden space inside Florence’s Medici Chapel where delicate charcoal drawings sketched on the walls have been attributed by some experts to Michelangelo. The tiny 33-by-10 feet space was discovered in 1975 when officials were searching for a new exit from the Medici Chapel to accommodate increasing visitors. The museum’s then-director believed that they were by Michelangelo, but the major scholars of his drawings dismissed the idea. A fierce debate continues to this day. For most of the last 50 years, access to the room has been strictly restricted. Starting Nov. 15, up to 100 visitors a week will be granted access by reservation and can ponder the mystery for themselves.