London Underground have revealed details of a new wave of poems to be displayed on the Tube Network including ‘La forza d’un bel viso a che mi sprona?’ by Michelangelo. The poem movingly explains Michelangelo’s love of male beauty in terms of his fervent religious beliefs.
Other poems which will be displayed from the end of May include Song: On May Morning by John Milton, Sonnet from the Portuguese by Elizabeth Barrett Browning and Swallows by Owen Sheers.
Tamsin Dillon, Head of Platform for Art, which supports Poems on the Underground said: “We are delighted with the new series of Poems on the Underground that will be on display in Tube Trains at the end of the month.”
“The poem by Michelangelo is particularly interesting and relevant as it coincides with the current Michelangelo season at the British Museum which includes a lecture on the Master’s poetry.”
Discussing the season Kate Soden, Michelangelo Exhibition Education Officer from the British Museum said: “Michelangelo Drawings: Closer to the Master is the first Michelangelo exhibition at the British Museum since 1975 and presents a wonderful opportunity to think about the artist in new ways.”
Commenting on ‘La forza d’un bel viso a che mi sprona?’ Soden says it “exemplifies” Michelangelo’s “unique gifts as a poet.”.
