Summary

Michelangelo cannot resist the pull of the “sculpture garden,” Bertoldo’s school. He hangs about in the shadows, spending his free time watching the sculptors at work. At Ghirlandaio’s studio, work continues, with constant pressure to fulfill commissions. Then Lorenzo de Medici, the richest man in the world, the most powerful man in Italy, and patron of Bertoldo’s school, requests Ghirlandaio send his two best apprentices to Bertoldo’s school. Michelangelo practically drools his desire to go, and he and his friend Granacci are sent.

Granacci helps Michelangelo break the news to his father, who is not pleased at all that his son will now be a stonecutter, considered of even lower status than a painter. His wife, Michelangelo’s stepmother, pleads she will be shamed if Michelangelo should become a stoneworker. Michelangelo’s father says he’ll never consent, so Michelangelo leaves early...