On April 24, 1503, a pivotal moment in Michelangelo’s career occurred. The cathedral authorities entrusted him with a momentous task: to create twelve apostle statues of marble for installation at the Florence Cathedral. This commission, which would significantly influence his future works, led to the creation of the unfinished statue of St. Matthew and his subsequent relocation to Rome. 

On April 24, 1503, Michelangelo Buonarroti embarked on a unique and prestigious project. He was commissioned to craft twelve marble Apostle sculptures for the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore. This rare opportunity, given by the religious organization to establish divine grandeur at the heart of Florence, came at a time when the artist was already gaining recognition for his Pietà in Rome and his work on David, commissioned by the Florentine government.

From the twelve life-size marble Apostle figures commissioned in the contract, only a single statue exceeded the initial production phase, the unfinished St. Matthew in Florence’s Galleria dell’Accademia. The unfinished marble statue sits trapped within its block, showing marks from chiseling scars on its surface. According to Michelangelo, the creative process reveals how the figure exists as a trapped essence and a vision of transmuted potential.

In the same year that Pope Julius II summoned Michelangelo to Rome for the fateful tomb commission that would ultimately lead to his involvement with the Sistine Chapel ceiling, Michelangelo was in high demand. Funding, politics, and changing priorities all worked against the Apostles’ completion. Nevertheless, the incomplete St. Matthew is still a potent example of Michelangelo’s talent in its most unadulterated, personal form, an enduring glimpse into what might have been.