HERMITAGE, Crouching Boy, By Michelangelo, Room 237

The famous statue known as the Crouching Boy, by Michelangelo Buonarroti, is a naked, muscular boy, who seems to be trying to remove a thorn from his foot. This impressive sculpture from 1524 is shrouded in mystery.

First of all, even today there is some doubt among experts as to whether it is actually the work of Michelangelo, and above all, we cannot be certain whether it was intended for the tomb of Pope Julius II in Rome, where Michelangelo worked for several years, between 1505 and 1516, or for the tomb of Giuliano de' Medici at the New Sacristy in the Basilica of San Lorenzo in Florence. The consensus among scholars seems to lean towards the Basilica, on the strength of sketches that show a very similar sculpture.

If you look carefully at this splendid work, which appears unrefined and unfinished, you can still see the marks of the chisel. But the curled hair, the position of the young man doubled up, perhaps in pain, reveal the skill of the artist....