Instead, he used the experience to study men in the baths, just like he traded art for corpses to learn more about anatomy. These Michelangelo facts show the artist's genius was linked to his sexuality, which he refused to hide.ĭespite of all his visits to the bathhouse, Michelangelo reportedly never bathed.
When he painted the Sistine Chapel, Michelangelo used the muscular bodies of working Romans he met in the bathhouses as his models, transforming one of the holiest chapels in Catholicism into an altar to the male form. Michelangelo was more than a sculptor and painter - he also used his platform to display his admiration of men in an era that did not look fondly on any form of non-heterosexual physical or romantic relationships.
