Night (Michelangelo)
Night is a sculpture in marble by the Italian Renaissance sculptor Michelangelo Buonarroti. Dating from 1526–1531, it is part of the decoration of Michelangelo's Sagrestia nuova in the Basilica di San Lorenzo in Florence, Italy.
Night is part of an allegory of the four parts of day. It is situated on the left of the sarcophagus of the tomb of Giuliano di Lorenzo de' Medici, Duke of Nemours.
Along with his Dawn, Michelangelo drew from the ancient Sleeping Ariadne for his sculpture's pose.Associated poetry
In his poem "L'Idéal" from Les Fleurs du Mal, French Romantic poet Charles Baudelaire references the statue:
In his Life of Michelangelo, Giorgio Vasari quotes an epigram by Giovanni Strozzi, written, perhaps in 1544, in praise of Michelangelo's Night:
Michelangelo responded in 1545–46 with another epigram, entitled "Risposta del Buonarroto". Speaking in the voice of the statue, it may contain a scathing critique of Cosimo I de' Medici's governance, according to Kenneth Gross:
