Share
A grocery list written and illustrated by Michelangelo, dated six years after he completed the Sistine Chapel ceiling, gives a clue to how he lived.
- Michelangelo frequently forgot his meals when he was working on one of his masterpieces.
- When he wasn't, he was a dinner guest at the homes of the leading public figures of the day.
- As for himself, Michelangelo liked good fish and wine, cheese and bread.
The magnificent ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome was unveiled to the public for the first time on this day in 1512.
Historians say that the people who had rushed in to take the first look at the five-years-in-the-making work of art stood in stunned silence when they beheld it. The young painter — Michelangelo — was renowned as a sculptor, but here he had displayed another sublime skill. The reception was overwhelmingly positive, though Michelangelo's own journey with creating the masterpiece had been less than smooth.
The young artist wrote a funny poem to a friend describing the acute discomfort of painting for hours on end, standing atop a section of scaffolding with his head tilted upward. Paint unavoidably splattered onto his face, his back and neck hurt; he felt like his internal organs had rearranged themselves to accommodate his awkward, enforced posture. (There were other problems too, logistical and administrative; Michelangelo stopped work on the chapel ceiling for a while because he hadn't been paid by the Church.)
Michelangelo's description of the labour involved in his endeavour is reminiscent of another quote attributed to him: "If people knew how hard I have had to work to gain my mastery, it wouldn’t seem so wonderful."
And there is little doubt that Michelangelo worked very, very hard — often to the point of forgetting to eat. When he did remember to sup, it would be a rushed affair, perhaps some bread and fish. There's a little bit of contradiction in Michelangelo's dining habits: on the one hand, he skipped his meals or ate frugally. On the other, he was frequently invited to grace the dinner tables of the era's leading public figures, including the Pope and noblemen. At his home, he maintained a cellar of fine wine, and a cheese cave. This indicates that perhaps when he wasn't caught up in a frenzy of creative inspiration, he did make time to enjoy the more earthy pleasures afforded by good food.
A grocery list written and illustrated by Michelangelo himself, dating about six years after he completed the Sistine Chapel ceiling, gives a clue to how he lived. On the back of a letter, the artist listed out what he needed his servant to buy from the market, for his next three meals. He also drew little sketches alongside each item — his servant was illiterate so these pictures would help him convey exactly what he wanted to the merchants and grocers.
The list is a small peephole into the intimate, domestic life of a genius. Michelangelo asks for anchovies and salted herring, bread (indicating the number of rolls he wants with each meal), wine (of at least two types, including possibly a dessert variety). He asked for stewed fennel — specifying two bowls of it, meaning he was expecting company at dinner. He also wanted tortellini.
The absence of meat on this list is explained by the fact that it was dated March, which means Michelangelo would have been observing Lent, when a degree of abstemiousness was observed.
His most famous painting — the Creation of Man, on the Sistine Chapel ceiling — may have puzzled art lovers, theologians, philosophers and anatomists for years, with its hidden-in-plain-sight allusions. But while many of Michelangelo's metaphysical musings may forever remain a mystery, this direct little grocery list allows us a glimpse into the part of his mind that dealt with the more mundane side of being mortal.
