e father returned to Florence and put the
child out to nurse in the village of Settignano, three miles from the
city, where he had a property, which was one of the first places in that
country bought by Messer Simone da Canossa. The nurse was a daughter of a
stone-carver and the wife of a stone-carver, so Michael Angelo used to say
jestingly, but perhaps in earnest too, that it was no wonder he delighted
in the use of the chisel, knowing that the milk of the foster-mother has
such power in us that often it will change the disposition, one bent being
thus altered to another of a very different nature.

V. The child grew and came to be of a reasonable age. His father, noticing
his ability, desired that he should devote himself to letters; he
therefore sent him to the school of a certain Maestro Francesco da Urbino,
who in those days taught grammar in Florence;(6) but although Michael
Angelo made progress in these studies, still the heavens and his nature,
both difficult to withstand, drew him towards the study of painting, so
that he could not resist, whenever he could steal the time, drawing now
here, now there, and seeking the company of painters. Amongst his familiar
friends was Francesco Granacci, a scholar of Domenico del Grillandaio,(7)
who, seeing the ardent longing and burning desire of the child, determined
to aid him, and continually exhorted him to the study of art, now lending
him drawings and now taking him with him to the workshops of his master
when some works were going forward from which he might learn. These sights
moved Michael Angelo so powerfully, following as they did his nature,
which never ceased to urge him, that he altogether abandoned letters. So
that his father and his uncles, who held the art in contempt, were much
displeased, and often beat him severely for it: they were so ignorant of
the excellence and nobility of art that they thought shame to have her in
the house. This, however much he disliked it, was not enough to turn him
back, but, on the contrary, made him more bold: he wished to begin to
colour, and he borrowed a print from Granacci which represented the story
of St. Antony when he was beaten by devils. The engraver was a certain
Martino d'Olanda,(8) a brave artist for that time. Michael Angelo painted
it on a panel of wood, Granacci lending him colours and brushes, in such a
manner that not only did it raise the admiration of every one who saw it,
but also envy, as some will have it