This unconventional portrait carved on a wall of Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, has been attributed to Michelangelo from the people for a long time. Only now, after a museum’s curator analysed it, its provenance is sure: it’s a portrait carved in the wall by Michelangelo.

The real clue that made the popular belief much more real, came from looking at a drawing of the young artist at the Louvre museum. The Louvre’s drawing, representing Michelangelo’s friend Granacci, is incredibly similar to this wall carving.

Marinazzo, curator of the Muscarelle Museum of Art at the College of William and Mary in Virginia, realized the great resemblance between the carving and the Louvre’s drawing.

The carving on the wall, has been dated around the early 16th century, the date perfectly coincides with the period in which the artist was commissioned with his sculpture David. The person depicted might be Granacci, he was not only a very good friend of Michelangelo, but also the person who approved the placement of the David.