Michelangelo drawing, Italian Renaissance artworks coming to San Diego

Michelangelo, ‘The Three Crosses,’ circa 1520, red chalk and wash, ©The Trustees of the British Museum

SAN DIEGO (PRNewswire) – Michelangelo’s magnificent drawing of The Three Crosses (1521-24) and 40 other original drawings and prints by Italian Renaissance artists will be coming to the University of San Diego’s Hoehn Family Galleries this fall.

“Christ: Life, Death and Resurrection” draws upon the remarkable collections of the British Museum, London, and features renowned works of art, many of which have never been shown in Southern California before now.

“Hosting this exhibit is a tremendous honor and privilege that embodies every aspect of our Catholic heritage, our intellectual tradition, and our commitment to the arts,” said University of San Diego President James T. Harris. “We are excited to share these works with our community and the general public.”

The exhibition opens to the public on Sept. 13 and runs through Dec. 13. It includes scenes of the Nativity, Crucifixion and Resurrection in a variety of works on paper – from woodcuts and etchings – to drawings in chalk and ink.

Hugo Chapman, the Keeper of Prints and Drawings at The British Museum, and a leading authority on Michelangelo’s drawings, curated the exhibit. The Three Crosses, depicting Christ on the cross between two thieves, is one of the few large-scale, fully finished drawings by the Italian Renaissance painter and sculptor to survive to our present time.

Giovanni de’Vecchi, ‘Design for a chapel decoration with the Resurrection,’ circa 1550-1600, brush drawing in brown and mauve wash with white over black and red chalk, ©The Trustees of the British Museum

Other artists in the exhibition include Camillo Procaccini, Carlo Maratti, Fra Filippo Lippi, Giovanni De’ Vecchi, Guilio Campo and Taddeo Zuccaro.

“The exhibition provides a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for this community to study works by some of the most important artists of the Renaissance,” said Derrick Cartwright, USD’s director of University Galleries. “All who visit will experience something special and memorable. We want to thank our colleagues at the British Museum for sharing their treasures and also want to acknowledge Robert and Karen Hoehn for their continued support, which makes exhibitions of this quality possible. We also thank the Dan Murphy Foundation for its inspired philanthropy, which has enabled us to bring “Christ: Life, Death, and Resurrection to Southern California.”

For gallery hours, directions and other events and programming go to www.sandiego.edu/galleries.