During the unstable rule of Piero, the son of Lorenzo the Magnificent, and shortly before the expulsion of the Medici from Florence, Michelangelo made a brief visit to Venice and then went to Bologna, where he stayed until 1495, as a guest of Francesco Aldrovandi.It was here in Bologna that the monk Girolamo Savonarola impressed upon Michelangelo his apocalyptic vision, which would later fuse with the artist's own tragic sense of human destiny.First Roman Sojourn.Michelangelo then went to Rome, where he was able to examine many newly unearthed classical statues and ruins. He soon produced his first large-scale sculpture, the over-life-size Bacchus *http://www.thais.it/scultura/sch00150.htm* (1496-98, Bargello, Florence). One of the few works of pagan rather than Christian subject matter made by the master, it rivaled ancient statuary, the highest mark of admiration in Renaissance Rome. PietAt about the same time, Michelangelo also did the marble Piet *http://www.christusrex.org/www1/citta/Bs-Pieta.jpg* (1498-1500), still in its original place in Saint Peter's Basilica. One of the most famous works of art, the Pieta was probably finished before Michelangelo was 25 years old. The youthful Mary is shown seated majestically, holding the dead Christ across her lap, a theme borrowed from northern European art. Instead of revealing extreme grief, Mary is restrained, and her expression *images/mary-resign.jpg* is one of resignation. Just days after it was placed in Saint Peter's, Michelangelo overheard a pilgrim remark that the work was done by Christoforo Solari, a compatriot from Lombard. That night in a fit of rage, Michelangelo took hammer and chisel and placed the following inscription on the sash running across Mary's breast in lapidary letters: MICHEL ANGELUS BONAROTUS FLORENT FACIBAT (Michelangelo Buonarroti, Florentine, made this). This is the only work that Michelangelo ever signed. Michelangelo later regretted his passionate outburst...
