The Anxieties of Michelangelo Buonarroti1

In the triad of Florentines in which the High Renaissance culminated, Michelangelo stands out as not only the greatest and most revolutionary artist but also the most unruly, enigmatic, and contradictory character. His personality contrasts so greatly with the charm of Raphael and the noble reserve of Leonardo da Vinci. Even his most idealizing biographers have to admit that he was violent, ill-tempered, uncontrolled, stubborn, and irascible; a misanthrope, suspicious even of his best friends, and full of contempt for his rivals and adversaries, ever ready to hurl at them invectives, mockery, and insults. His employers, three powerful Popes among them, had to handle him with utter care and caution. Pepe Leo X summed it up when he said: 'Michelagniolo è impossible e non si può praticar con lui' (1) (Michelangelo is impossible and one cannot deal with him). When his contemporaries called his outstanding feature 'terribilità' (2) they referred not only to the spirit-quelling force of his works of art, but also to his terror-inspiring personality. From this description we can safely conclude that one of the outstanding dynámic factors in that personality was aggression.

In our imagination, based on the effect of his creations, Michelangelo looms like a powerful giant who deserves the title 'The Titan'. In reality he was under average size, frail and sickly, though with muscular arms and shoulders and the hands of a hard-working labourer; he had an almost ugly, mutilated face with suspicious eyes and a mixed expression of meanness and misery. His garments were worn and dirty. We can well say that his appearance betrayed the tempestuous conflicts in his character. What we know of his behaviour reveals that he had the greatest difficulties in dealing with his aggression. He had to use all means of defence against being overwhelmed by it, and his efforts were not always successful. To achieve control of aggression was an ideal which he was able to reach only in