Oil and Marble: A Novel of Leonardo and Michelangelo

During the months that Michelangelo spends alone in his shed, working on his David, his beard and hair grow “long and unruly” (137). The Operai, guild leaders, and artists visit to inspect the statue’s progress. Granacci accompanies them. Michelangelo is reluctant to show them what he has done, even though they have the power to fire him from the project. Eventually, Michelangelo unlocks the door and allows them inside. He’s surprised to see Leonardo with them. Leonardo is still wounded but allows people to believe that he sustained the wounds while fighting off Cesare Borgia’s men with “a handful of stones” (139), like the biblical David. Michelangelo shows off his work. The archbishop is concerned about the progress, but Botticelli defends the statue’s “miraculous” potential. Due to the artist’s approval, Vitelli pays Michelangelo 400 gold florins. Thrilled, Michelangelo thinks of how the money will change his life.

That night, Michelangelo visits his family. When he pours the coins on the table, the family is ecstatic. Even his father celebrates, until Giovansimone espouses surprise that so much money could be made by “cutting open dead people” (142). He has been following Michelangelo, he reveals, and knows the truth. The revelation curtails the family’s delight.