Michelangelo Imperfect
National Gallery of Denmark, SMK, Copenhagen
Through 31 August, 2025
Active Life (Leah). Original 1542–44,
facsimile 2024–25
The Royal Cast Collection, SMK –
National Gallery of Denmark. Photo: SMK
Genius of Victory Original c. 1519-26,
facsimile 2024-25
The Royal Cast Collection, SMK –
National Gallery of Denmark. Photo: SMK
Bacchus. Original c. 1496-97, cast c. 1874-79
The Royal Cast Collection, SMK –
National Gallery of Denmark. Photo: SMK
He painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, designed the dome of St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome, and his sculptures are known worldwide. SMK presents the most comprehensive display of Michelangelo Buonarroti’s sculptural work seen in 150 years.
If one were to point to a single artist who has contributed fundamentally to the modern perception of art as self-expression in Western culture, it would be the Italian artist Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475–1564). His iconic statue David shows us why.
Viewed from the left, the almost five-metre-tall figure is a classically idealised, alert young man ready for battle – but when seen from the other side he changes expression, revealing doubt and hesitation. Michelangelo insisted on reflecting the often conflicted and contradictory inner lives of his figures. He was not the first to do so, but he did it with such consistency that it changed the course of art.
A bronze David and thirty-nine other sculptures reproduced after Michelangelo can be seen at the National Gallery of Denmark (SMK) in Copenhagen in the exhibition Michelangelo Imperfect. Not since the celebration of the 400th anniversary of Michelangelo’s birth in Florence in 1875 has so comprehensive a selection of the artist’s sculptural production been gathered in one place.
Brutus. Original 1540 or 1548, cast 1897
The Royal Cast Collection, SMK –
National Gallery of Denmark. Photo: SMK
Day (Giorno). Original c. 1525-26, cast 1897
The Royal Cast Collection, SMK –
National Gallery of Denmark Photo: SMK
Head of David. Original 1501-1504, cast 1890
The Royal Cast Collection, SMK –
National Gallery of Denmark. Photo: SMK
Michelangelo’s focus was almost exclusively on the human body, especially the male form, in which he found endless scope for expressing thoughts, emotions and tensions. He invariably strove for greatness, reaching for the impossible. Already in his lifetime, he was described as ‘il divino’ – the divine. But his art also revolves around the imperfect, the unfinished and the fragile; around being in a state of becoming, anxious, wavering and hesitating. This is apparent in his biblical, mythological and allegorical subjects alike.
‘This is the impossible exhibition: You would never be able to gather Michelangelo’s original sculptures in one place. But with SMK’s collection of historical reproductions in plaster and newly produced facsimiles of the highest quality, we are able to present a perhaps imperfect, yet strikingly complete, overall account of a body of work that changed art forever and remains remarkably poignant today,’ says the exhibition’s curator, Matthias Wivel.
The basis for SMK’s exhibition is its exquisite collection of historical casts after Michelangelo sculptures in the Royal Cast Collection. Most of these were commissioned and cast in 1895–98 for the then-new National Gallery of Denmark (today SMK). Some were added in the twentieth- and early twenty-first century. The collection encompasses the majority of Michelangelo’s most famous sculptures.
Head of David. Original c. 1501-04, cast 1890
Photo from the Royal Cast Collection, SMK –
National Gallery of Denmark
The Dying Prisoner. Original c. 1513-14, cast c. 1852–70
Photo from the Royal Cast Collection, SMK –
National Gallery of Denmark
In order to get as close as possible to a complete presentation of the Renaissance master’s sculptures, SMK complements these historical plaster casts with newly commissioned and -produced 3D-modelled and cast sculptures – so-called facsimiles – produced in Madrid by Factum Foundation, world leaders in the production of facsimiles, reconstructions and rematerialisations of artworks.
This enables SMK to bring together under one roof reproductions of masterpieces that in the original are located in many different places and with only a few exceptions are never moved, either because they are too fragile to travel, too difficult to move, or, quite simply, too culturally significant. The exhibition also includes original sculptural models (maquettes), drawings, and letters from Michelangelo’s own hand.
‘This [is] a unique opportunity to experience Michelangelo’s sculptural art as a whole. At the same time, it offers a chance to reflect on the role played by reproduction and copying in art and in our understanding of art. Reproductions have always been part of the way we create and perceive art, but have been somewhat neglected in a museum context in recent times. We see great potential here,’ says the exhibition’s curator, Matthias Wivel.
In connection with the exhibition, SMK is publishing a comprehensive and richly illustrated catalogue that presents new research and unfolds themes from the exhibition – including an exploration of the relationship between original and copy, as well as a challenge to the distinction between the finished and the unfinished, the perfect and the imperfect.
NATIONAL GALLERY OF DENMARK
SMK - STATENS MUSEUM FOR KUNST
Sølvgade 48-50, 1307 Copenhagen
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