Summary

Michelangelo leaves the palace and returns home. What is he to do, go door-to-door asking if anyone needs a marble statue? Instead, he mopes around the house, his father accusing him of laziness, and he doesn’t even draw. Ghirlandaio invites him to return and complete his apprenticeship, as there are plenty of frescoes still to be painted. The offer takes Michelangelo by surprise. He spends a day with the Topolinos to give himself time to consider, then decides returning to the studio would be going backward, and he must move forward.

He meets Father Bichiellini on the streets, the prior of the Hermits of Santo Spirito, and the prior offers him the use of the library and gives him admission to the restricted parts of the monastery where works of art decorate the interior. He draws for the first time in the three months since...