Emilio Santarelli
Statue of Michelangelo Buonarroti, 1842
Uffizi Gallery, Florence

Michelangelo, who shaped ideals of beauty, despised washing. His biographer Vasari noted he wore clothes and boots for weeks, believing water harmed health—even slept in them. After death, his boots had fused to his skin; removing them peeled off flesh like a snake shedding. His odor was so strong it repelled coworkers.

Yet this man, steeped in grime, sought obsessive purity in art. He spent months at quarries, selecting flawless white marble, convinced the perfect form lay within—his task was to remove the unnecessary. As he chiseled masterpieces, he remained imprisoned by his own filth.

#Art #History #Michelangelo

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