Die Eherne Schlange

1516–1534 · Wirkungsort

Florence

1527

The Medici expelled: inspector of the republic's fortifications

After the Medici were expelled from Florence, Michelangelo, a republican at heart, joined the popular movement and became chief inspector of fortifications. He abandoned his post and set off for Venice, meaning to go on to France, but returned and rendered his city important services during the siege by imperial troops.

1530

A death sentence and a hiding place under the Medici Chapel

Florence fell, the Medici returned to power and Pope Clement VII sentenced Michelangelo to death. He is thought to have hidden for two months in a small chamber under the Medici chapels, covering its walls with charcoal and chalk drawings, until he was pardoned so that he could complete the Sistine Chapel and the Medici tombs.

1532

Meets Tommaso dei Cavalieri

Aged 57, Michelangelo met the 23-year-old Roman patrician Tommaso dei Cavalieri and addressed to him his longest, deeply felt sequence of poems, as well as drawings such as the Ganymede and the Fall of Phaëthon. Cavalieri replied, “Never have I loved a man more than I love you,” and remained devoted to him until his death.

1534

Moves from Florence to Rome

Michelangelo left Florence for Rome and lived near the church of Santa Maria di Loreto. Despite his support for the republic, Pope Clement VII restored his allowance and made a new contract with him for the tomb of Julius II.

c. 1537

Friendship with Vittoria Colonna

In Rome Michelangelo met the poet Vittoria Colonna, a noble widow, then forty-seven. They shared a sincere platonic love, exchanging sonnets on spiritual matters, and in the 1530s she was his spiritual guide.