When Pope Leo X entered Florence in triumph in 1515, he and his cousins Giulio (later Pope Clement VII) initiated a series of commissions at San Lorenzo which built upon the projects of their Medici ancestors at that church. The new Sacristy, now generally known as the Medici Chapel (Cappella Medicea), was designed as a burial pantheon for the Medici family. The funereal monuments were commissioned in 1520 by Pope Clement VII, executed largely by Michelangelo from 1520 to 1534, and completed by Michelangelo's pupils after his departure.

The studies for or the allegorical figures in the Medici Chapel illustrate the weight of a muscular body. The powerful body seems stolid and portly, almost pressed down under its own weight, as expressed in the vigorous contour lines that appear to be yielding to the massive figure. The drafts are a sculptor's drawings in which the master was already thinking of the later execution in marble as he made various studies of details from different points of view.

Michelangelo also made studies for a painting (a Resurrection scene) in the lunette above the double tomb of the Magnifici at the entrance wall of the chapel. This painting was not realized.

Preview	Picture Data	File Info	Comment
	Design for a Double Tomb in the Medici Chapel (verso) 1520-21 Black chalk, 382 x 223 mm Musée du Louvre, Paris	1100*781 True Color 144 Kb
	Male Torso (recto) 1524-25 Black chalk, 332 x 258 mm Ashmolean Museum, Oxford	1000*797 True Color 105 Kb
	Four Studies of a Bent Arm (verso) 1524-25 Red chalk, 332 x 258 mm Ashmolean Museum, Oxford	779*1000 True Color 119 Kb
	Three Studies of a Left Arm and Shoulder 1524-25 Black chalk, 162 x 264 mm Teylers Museum, Haarlem	800*506 True Color 54 Kb
	Study of a Left Leg (recto) 1524-25 Black chalk, 207 x 247 mm Teylers Museum, Haarlem	800*692 True Color 76 Kb
	Study of a Left Leg and Knee (recto) 1524-25 Black chalk, 207 x 247 mm Teylers Museum, Haarlem	828*700 True Color 70 Kb
	Studies of Two Male Torsi and a Right Leg 1524-25 Pen and brown ink, 262 x 266 mm Casa Buonarroti, Florence	808*800 True Color 89 Kb
	Grotesque Heads (recto) 1524-25 Red chalk, 260 x 410 mm Städelsches Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt	1100*733 True Color 88 Kb
	Studies of Heads, an Ear, and a Leg (verso) 1524-25 Red and black chalk, 260 x 410 mm Städelsches Kunstinstitut, Frankfurt	1100*733 True Color 62 Kb
	Studies of grotesque heads 1530 Red chalk, 255 x 350 mm British Museum, London	655*700 True Color 97 Kb
	The Resurrection (recto) 1531-32 Black chalk, traces of red chalk, 240 x 347 mm Royal Collection, Windsor	1030*716 True Color 139 Kb
	Resurrection of Christ c. 1530 Red chalk, 152 x 171 mm Musée du Louvre, Paris	899*800 True Color 116 Kb
	The Resurrection (recto, detail) 1531-32 Black chalk, traces of red chalk Royal Collection, Windsor	559*800 True Color 104 Kb
	The Risen Christ 1532-34 Black chalk, 325 x 190 mm Casa Buonarroti, Florence	552*900 True Color 58 Kb
	The Risen Christ 1532-34 Black chalk, traces of stylus, 373 x 221 mm Royal Collection, Windsor	638*1050 True Color 69 Kb
	Resurrection of Christ 1532-33 Black pencil, 381 x 252 mm Casa Buonarroti, Florence	850*1033 True Color 128 Kb
	Study of Nude Figures - Black chalk, pen and brown ink, 180 x 210 mm Casa Buonarroti, Florence	983*800 True Color 157 Kb