Crouching Boy marble sculpture by Michelangelo Buonarroti (photos by Kenn Stearns)

The Russian State Hermitage in Saint Petersburg is one of the largest and oldest collections of art and culture in the world. It was founded in 1764 by Catherine the Great.

Crouching Boy by Michelangelo is one of the most prized works of art in the Hermitage collection. The unfinished marble sculture was probably intended for the Medici Chapel in Florence, Italy during the 1520s. The statue is located in the Cabinet of Italian Art at the Hermitage Museum.

Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni is perhaps better known for La Pietà in St. Peter’s Basilica, David in Galleria dell’Accademia, or frescos on the ceiling and walls of the Sistine Chapel.