Oil and Marble: A Novel of Leonardo and Michelangelo

From a nearby hilltop, Michelangelo studies Florence. He’s proud to return to the “glittering mosaic of white, yellow, and orange buildings” (37) that he calls home, four years after leaving for Rome. During his journey, he was attacked by bandits and stopped briefly in Siena, where he began work on an “uninspiring” commission to sculpt an altarpiece for Cardinal Piccolomini. Leaving the commission to his assistants, he now returns to Florence to find more engaging work. At the gates, however, guards stop him, accusing him of being a “Medici spy.” Michelangelo tries to explain that he learned to sculpt in the Medici gardens under the patronage of Lorenzo de’ Medici, but the Florentine Republic has since thrown out Medici, the former unofficial ruler of Florence, and views any connection to Medici with suspicion. Michelangelo explains that he hates Piero de’ Medici, Lorenzo’s “selfish, boorish” son. Since Michelangelo is unwilling to tell his family that he’s in jail, the guards refuse to release him.

The next day, Michelangelo’s old friend Francesco Granacci vouches for him. He’s released from jail, and as they walk through Florence, Granacci updates his friend on what has happened in the republic. The heretical Friar Savonarola was burned, Borgia’s armies threatened the city, and the government remains “ineffectual.