lineage than of his genius even. He would not permit people to regard him as an artist. "I am not the sculptor Michael Angelo . . ." he said, "I am Michael Angelo Buonarroti. . . ."[1]
He was mentally an aristocrat and possessed all the prejudices of his caste. He even went so far as to say that "art ought to be exercised by nobles, not by plebeians."[2]
He had a religious, antique, almost barbarian conception of the family. He sacrificed everything to it and wished others to do the same. As he himself said, he would have "sold himself as a slave for its sake."[3] Affection had little to do with this. He despised his brothers, who well merited his scorn. He despised his nephew—his heir. But, as representatives of his family,
- ↑ "I have never, either as a painter or a sculptor," he continues, "made a trade of my art. I have always exercised it for the honour of my family." (Letter to Leonardo, May 2, 1548.)
- ↑ Condivi.
- ↑ Letter to his father, August 19, 1497. He was not "emancipated" by his father until March 13, 1508, at the age of thirty-three. (Official certificate registered on the following March 28.)
his plans were ever frustrated by his brothers' mediocrity. He blushed to think that one of them (Sigismondo) guided a plough and lived the life of a peasant. In 1520, Count Alessandro of Canossa wrote to him to say that in his family archives he had discovered the proof that they were related. The information was inaccurate, but Michael Angelo believed it, and wished to purchase the château of Canossa, the alleged cradle of his family. His biographer, Condivi, following his indications, included among his ancestors Beatrice, the sister of Henri II., and the great Comtesse Mathilde.
In 1515, on the occasion of the visit of Leo X. to Florence, Buonarroto, Michael Angelo's brother, was appointed comes palatinus, and the Buonarroti received the right to add to their arms the palla of the Medici, with three lilies and the Pope's monogram.
