Michelangelo Flees Florence
Michelangelo left Florence without telling anyone and went first to Venice and then to Bologna, looking for work. From now on, for much of the rest of his life, he will be kicked around from one patron to another�sometimes thrown at one another in their family rivalries. Because of these fights and the twists of fortune he will never be able to finish the projects they promise him. In all his long life he will finish only fifteen statues, not counting the snowman.
In Bologna he was arrested for not being able to pay a fine, and held at the police station. Fortunately, a friend of his in the Bologna government heard about his predicament and had him freed. The savior patron, a man named Aldovrandi. He took Michelangelo into his home. �He loved the boy,� says Vasari, Michelangelo�s biographer,�for his skill as an artist.� Wonderful, no?
But then Vasari goes on: �And also because of his Tuscan accent, which he enjoyed when Michelangelo read him work by Dante, Petrarch, Boccaccio, and other poets.�
Pet Sculptor
Aldovrandi was keeping a pet sculptor at home. He did look around for some work to give the pet. One day he took Michelangelo for a walk and showed him the tomb of St. Dominic. It was a beautiful monument but two figures were missing. �Are you brave enough to try to make them?� he asked Michelangelo. They weren�t big figures (just two feet high). Aldovrandi probably underrated his artist pet. When he saw Michelangelo warm up and heard him promise he would make the best figures on the tomb, Aldovrandi smiled, happy at his own wonderful patronage. �I�ll have them prepare the block for you then,� he said.
But don�t think that happened right away.
He kept Michelangelo with him for more than a year; after which, says Vasari, �Michelangelo was only too happy to return to Florence, as he realized he was wasting time.�
