Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni, better known as Michelangelo, was born on March 6, 1475 in Caprese, near the town of Arezzo. He was the second of five sons to parents Ludovico di Leonardo di Buonarotto Simoni and Francesca Neri, who were both natives of Florence. A few weeks after Michelangelo’s birth, his family moved back to Florence after his father’s term as mayor ended in Caprese. When they arrived, his mother was found too frail to nurse him, so his parents sent him to a wet-nurse that lived on their farm a few miles away in Settignano. While he was a baby, he was surrounded by his wet-nurse’s husband and father, who were both stonemasons. He later claimed that “with my wet-nurse’s milk, I sucked in the hammer and chisels I use for my statues” (Horowitz). Throughout his young years he was sent to study grammar with humanist Francesco da Urbino, however he showed no interest and instead began to copy paintings he saw at churches and around town. At age 13, Michelangelo surprised and upset his father when he left grammar school and accepted an apprenticeship at the workshop of Domenico Ghirlandaio, a popular fresco artist in Florence. After studying the art of fresco for nearly a year while learning how to carve, Michelangelo caught the attention of Lorenzo de’ Medici, the ruler of Florence, who invited him to live at the Medici household. For two years, Michelangelo attended Lorenzo’s school, where he had the chance to meet multiple literary personalities such as Pico della Mirandola, and created both Madonna of the Steps (1490-1492) and Battle of the Centaurs (1491-1492). Shortly after Michelangelo’s completion of both of his artworks, Lorenzo passed away on April 8, 1492. Michelangelo soon left the Medici house and returned back to his father’s house (“The Complete Works”). Not long after returning home did the corruption of Florence occur. Italy was invaded by Charles VIII of France, which res