A self‐caricature of michelangelo buonarroti hidden in the portrait of vittoria colonna

The specialized literature has described how the great anatomist par excellence, Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475–1564), like many other renowned artists of his time, included a self‐portrait in many of his works. This article presents novel evidence that Michelangelo inserted his self‐portrait into a sketch of his close friend, Vittoria Colonna (1490–1547). This work, made by Michelangelo in 1525, is currently in the collection of the British Museum in London, England. This self‐portrait of Michelangelo can serve as a tool for analyzing the artist's probable bodily dimensions and even his state of health during this period of his life. Clin. Anat. 31:335–338, 2018. © 2018 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.