VATICAN CITY -- A long-missing Michelangelo sketch for the dome of St. Peter's Basilica, possibly his last design before his death, has been found in the basilica's offices, the Vatican newspaper said Thursday.

The sketch, drawn in chalk for stonecutters who were working on the construction of the basilica, was done by the Renaissance master in 1563, in the year before his death, L'Osservatore Romano reported.

Michelangelo was in his late 80s when he did the sketch. The sketch is especially rare because the artist ordered many of his designs destroyed when he was an old man.

The sketch was discovered in the Fabbrica of St. Peter's, which contains the basilica's offices.

L'Osservatore Roman said most sketches done by Michelangelo for the stonecutters were destroyed or lost, but this one survived because a supervisor used the back of the sketch to make notes about problems linked to the stone's transport through the outskirts of Rome.

Assistance in the research for the sketch came from the University of Bonn and Rome's Bibliotheca Hertziana.