Michelangelo boldly demands that Ghirlandaio pay him as an apprentice rather than the other way around, securing a place in the studio.

Lorenzo de' Medici invites Michelangelo to leave his family home and move into the Medici palace as a favored sculptor.

Michelangelo presents his completed Madonna sculpture to the Plato Academy, earning praise for fusing Classical style with Christian themes.

Lorenzo de' Medici dies, leaving Michelangelo without a patron and uncertain of his place in Florence's artistic world.

Michelangelo secretly dissects corpses in the Santo Spirito monastery morgue each night to study human anatomy for his sculptures.

The people of Florence storm the Medici palace and drive out the Medici family, ending their rule of the city.

Michelangelo arrives in Rome and is shocked to find a decaying, lawless city far beneath its ancient reputation and glory.

Michelangelo installs the completed Pietà in the dead of night, then carves his name into the statue's base to claim authorship.

Michelangelo wins the prestigious competition to carve the massive Duccio block, beating out rivals including Leonardo da Vinci for the honor.

The David is installed in front of the Palazzo Vecchio and immediately hailed by the people of Florence as a masterpiece.

Pope Julius II summons Michelangelo to Rome, demanding he abandon his Florentine projects to devote years to carving the Pope's tomb.

Michelangelo is ordered by Pope Julius to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, a commission he deeply resents.

Pope Julius dies, and Cardinal Giovanni de' Medici is elected as the new Pope Leo X, giving the Medici family control of the papacy.

Following Sangallo's death, Michelangelo is appointed official architect of St. Peter's Basilica and refuses any payment for the sacred work.

Michelangelo suffers two strokes, writes his will, and dies as the official architect of the Vatican and the world's most celebrated artist.

This pool traces the central milestones of Michelangelo's life, from his unconventional entry into Ghirlandaio's studio to his celebrated death as the greatest artist of the Renaissance. It follows his ascent through the Medici palace, where Lorenzo nurtures his genius, and through the turbulent years that follow Lorenzo's death. The pool captures the defining works of his career — the Pietà, the David, and the Sistine Chapel — as well as the political upheavals that shaped each commission. Readers follow Michelangelo through his acrimonious relationship with Pope Julius II and the collapse of the Florentine Republic. The pool closes with his final appointment as architect of St. Peter's Basilica and his death, cementing his immortal legacy.

Michelangelo's rise from apprentice to the world's greatest artist.

A young Michelangelo sits alone in his room sketching his own face, already dreaming of becoming an artist against his father's wishes.

Michelangelo sneaks into Ghirlandaio's studio after hours to study his master's secret portfolio and successfully reproduces the works he finds there.

Michelangelo first glimpses Lorenzo's youngest daughter, Contessina, as she passes through the Medici sculpture garden, feeling an immediate and profound connection.

Michelangelo secretly carves his own faun from discarded marble, impressing Lorenzo and revealing that Lorenzo and Bertoldo have been secretly watching him.

Torrigiani punches Michelangelo in the face during a studio argument, permanently crushing his nose and forcing Torrigiani to flee Florence.

Contessina bids a tearful farewell to Michelangelo before leaving to marry Piero Ridolfi, knowing their cherished friendship will never be the same.

After fleeing Florence's turmoil, Michelangelo is arrested in Bologna until his acquaintance Aldovrandi intervenes and offers him lodging and artistic commissions.

A Cupid Michelangelo carved is sold in Rome as an ancient antique, and an impressed Cardinal invites Michelangelo to come to the city.

Michelangelo hires a young Roman man named Argiento as his live-in apprentice, gaining indispensable domestic and studio support for his work.

Pope Julius sends Michelangelo to the conquered city of Bologna to cast a massive bronze statue of the Pope for public display.

Michelangelo legally emancipates himself from his father to end his obligation to send all his earnings directly to the Buonarroti family.

Impatient to unveil the Sistine Chapel, Pope Julius strikes Michelangelo with his cane after ordering the scaffolding dismantled prematurely.

A dying Contessina explicitly confesses her lifelong love for Michelangelo, compelling him to acknowledge the mutual love they never acted upon.

The long-delayed San Lorenzo façade project is cancelled, and the marble Michelangelo extracted at great personal cost is used to repave floors.

Michelangelo's brother Buonarroto dies of the plague while Michelangelo nurses him, recklessly exposing himself to the illness out of grief and devotion.

This pool explores the secondary but essential events that shaped Michelangelo as a person and artist, beginning with his earliest private dreams of a life in art. It follows his formative relationships — his first glimpse of Contessina, his discovery by Lorenzo, and the painful farewell that ends his first love — alongside the personal setbacks that tested his resilience. The pool tracks how Michelangelo navigated political exile, found critical patrons in Rome, and struggled against the financial demands of his draining family. Key moments including the Pope's humiliating strike, the cancellation of the San Lorenzo façade, and the death of his brother Buonarroto reveal the personal costs of his dedication. Together, these events illuminate the human story behind his immortal masterworks.

The people, losses, and pivotal moments behind Michelangelo's journey.

Michelangelo defies his furious father and joins Lorenzo de' Medici's sculpture garden anyway, choosing art and passion over family obligation.

An aging Bertoldo dies in Michelangelo's arms after declaring the young sculptor the rightful artistic heir to Donatello's legacy.

Michelangelo watches in secret as a dying Lorenzo asks the despised Savonarola for a blessing, shattering his idealized image of the man.

To thank the prior for granting him access to the monastery morgue, Michelangelo carves a deeply human wooden crucifix for the altar.

Michelangelo enters a brief but intense love affair with a woman named Clarissa Safi in Bologna, the first romance of his adult life.

Savonarola is excommunicated, arrested, and executed in Florence, ending his puritanical reign and the era of his Bonfires of the Vanities.

Michelangelo carves the Bacchus statue for the banker Jacopo Galli in Rome, rapidly establishing his reputation among the city's art world.

Michelangelo defies Pope Julius by leaving Rome and returning to Florence without permission, triggering a political standoff between artist and Pope.

Michelangelo visits Leonardo da Vinci and discovers that his ambitious mural in the Palazzo Vecchio has been ruined by a failed technique.

Michelangelo dismisses all his studio assistants and resolves to repaint the entire Sistine Chapel ceiling alone, restarting the whole project from scratch.

Michelangelo discovers that Bramante and Raphael have been secretly entering the locked Sistine Chapel to study and copy his unfinished work.

Michelangelo meets the young Roman nobleman Tommaso dei Cavalieri and falls into a deep platonic friendship that revitalizes his aging spirit.

Michelangelo is introduced to the widow and poet Vittoria Colonna, falling into an intense platonic love that inspires many of his sonnets.

The Last Judgment mural is unveiled to the public, who pray before it in awe while conservative Church figures condemn it as sinful.

Michelangelo constructs a detailed model of his planned dome for St. Peter's Basilica, ensuring his architectural vision can be completed after his death.

This pool gathers the turning points and revelations that defined Michelangelo's inner life and creative development, from his early defiance of his father to his final effort to preserve his vision of St. Peter's dome. It captures the losses that shaped him — Bertoldo's dying declaration, and the shock of watching Lorenzo seek Savonarola's blessing — alongside the discoveries that fueled his genius. Key decisions, such as dismissing his entire studio and restarting the Sistine Chapel alone, reveal his uncompromising artistic integrity. The pool also traces the deep platonic loves of his later years — his bonds with Tommaso and Vittoria — as sources of renewal against his increasing isolation. Each event marks a moment where Michelangelo's understanding of himself, his art, or his faith was irrevocably changed.