Previously obscure statues may be Michelangelo's only surviving bronze works

A research team from the University of Cambridge and the Fitzwilliam Museum has announced that two statues, obscure for more than 100 years, may be Michelangelo's last surviving bronze works.

The 3.3-feet-tall statues depict a young man and an older man riding panthers. In the 19th century, the statues were attributed to Michelangelo, AFP reports, but since the pieces were undocumented and unsigned, that credit was since dismissed.

But when University of Cambridge emeritus professor Paul Joannides found a drawing of a young man riding a panther in a Michelangelo sketch, the art world reconsidered the statues. Experts studied the bronzes and found their style and anatomy were similar to Michelangelo's 16th-century works.

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Previously, it was thought that none of Michelangelo's bronze statues had survived. The two sculptures will be displayed at Cambridge's Fitzwilliam Museum from Feb. 3 until August 9.