| Maybe it is less known how Michelangelo was | | | | service. |
| accepted as an apprentice in the household of | | | | So, from age fifteen until he was eighteen, |
| Lorenzo de' Medici. | | | | Michelangelo lived under the roof, and in the |
| Michelangelo Buonarroti was born in Caprese, | | | | company of one of the most prestigious rulers of |
| Tuscany. As an artist, he belonged to Florence, a | | | | Europe. |
| centre of culture and trade, which at that time | | | | Michelangelo was considered a guest of the house, |
| was moving towards a centralized government | | | | and treated equally with the sons of the house. |
| under enlightened rulers. And one of these rulers | | | | His duty was clear: to learn how to become a |
| was Lorenzo de' Medici. | | | | great sculptor, and to bring glory to Florence. |
| Michelangelo was an apprentice of Domenico | | | | In Lorenzo de' Medici's palace, people were taking |
| Ghirlandaio, the famous Florentine painter. | | | | their place at the table in the order of their arrival. |
| Lorenzo de' Medici (also known as Lorenzo the | | | | Those arriving early had a higher chance to seat |
| Magnificent), had an extensive collection of antique | | | | next to the Magnificent. So, very often, |
| statues decorating his garden. He allowed | | | | Michelangelo took his seat next to Lorenzo, many |
| Ghirlandaio to use these statues for instructing the | | | | times even before Lorenzo's sons, as the rank did |
| most promising talent among his pupils. When | | | | not override the arrival order. |
| asked to choose that talented apprentice, | | | | And, maybe it was not a coincidence that |
| Ghirlandaio named Michelangelo. | | | | Michelangelo was so well treated by Lorenzo the |
| One day, Lorenzo the Magnificent noticed | | | | Magnificent. The Buonarroti family claimed that |
| Michelangelo, who was carving in marble, working | | | | they originated from the Counts of Canossa. |
| on a broadly smiling faun's face. | | | | Michelangelo gave much importance to this claim, |
| Lorenzo joked by saying that Michelangelo is | | | | and, convinced of his descent, he always felt |
| depicting an old man's face, but he left his mouth | | | | separated from the mass of artists and artisans. |
| with all his teeth, which cannot be true, a man of | | | | Generally, the claim is considered unproven. |
| that age cannot have all his teeth intact. As soon | | | | However, to leave the matter still open, in 1520, |
| as the Magnificent left, the ambitious Michelangelo | | | | Alexander, Count of Canossa, wrote to |
| struck out a tooth from the upper jaw, waiting | | | | Michelangelo, referring to himself as "your good |
| anxiously for the next day to see what his | | | | relative". |
| master will have to say. | | | | Whether a count or not, it is Michelangelo the |
| When Lorenzo saw the new faun's face, he was | | | | artist who received the intellectual appreciation he |
| impressed by the keenness and simplicity of the | | | | deserved, as perhaps he was the greatest of all |
| pupil, and decided to take Michelangelo into his | | | | artists. |