p under Bertoldo. It has been noted that this sculpture "imitated the ancients so perfectly, it was said that it could be confused with an authentic work of antique art" (Cole and Gealt, 1989, p. 143).
At the age of eighteen, Michelangelo was given a very rare opportunity to study anatomy through the dissection of corpses. Dissecting corpses was considered to be both a sin and a crime at the time. However, a friar who was interested in Michelangelo's development arranged for the young artist to sneak into the monastery hospital of Santo Spirito during the evenings (Hartt, 1989, p. 610). In this way, Michelangelo gained a detailed knowledge of human anatomy. This experience proved to be vital in the creation of his later sculptural masterpieces. Soon afterward, however, Michelangelo's patronage under the Medici family came to a sudden end. The people of Florence, who hated the despotic rulership of the Medici's, forced the family to flee from the republic. Michelangelo decided that it would be best for him to flee as well, since he was so st
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