House of Michael Angelo

Near the Piazza Santa Croce is a house much prized by Florentines. "No. 64 Via Ghibellina," was the address of Michael Angelo in Florence. And here Florentines may walk through the same rooms his feet have trodden, stand in his studio, handle the models his hands have fashioned, follow the great incidents of his life that have been frescoed upon the walls, remembering that Michael Angelo, although born near Arezzo, Italy, was from his early youth a Florentine.

His descendants have endeavored to keep the house of their illustrious kinsman, as nearly as possible, in the state in which he left it. His grandnephew, Michael Angelo the younger, in 1620 collected many of the souvenirs of his great ancestor and had the walls of the house frescoed with incidents of his life by the best Masters in Florence. In 1858 Cosimo Buonarroti, the last member of the family, bequeathed the house, with all its treasures, to his native city.

The seven rooms of the house open into each other without lateral communication. In the third room, the ceiling, divided into fifteen compartments, is covered with paintings relative to the great master. It also contains a life-size seated statue of him, by Antonio Novello, in 1620. The sixth room, called the library, is surrounded by old chestnut-wood presses, which contain the archives of the Buonarroti family. The collection of his correspondence is very interesting, especially his letters from Vittoria Colonna, the celebrated Marchioness of Pescara. Michael Angelo was never married, but late in life he conceived the most ardent passion for this remarkable woman, one of the most eminent characters of the sixteenth century.

In this same room is the model for the "David," and for Hercules, which were placed at the entrance of the Palazzo Vecchio. In another room is shown the sword which always journeyed with him; also his walking stick, with crutch handles and strong iron ferrules, deeply notched to keep the old man from falling on slippery pavements. There is shown also, in another room, his studies for the painting of the Sistine Chapel, Rome; and his plans for the fortifications of Florence. Other and numerous relics of art which he had collected render this one of the most interesting private dwellings in Florence. (See "Curious Questions," Vol. I., page 220.)