Michelanglo's last days

In his final days, Michelangelo could no longer sleep. He wanted to be alone and silence was what he wanted. He claim's the night was his friend. He made himself a helmet that a candle in it so that he could work through the night.
These are Michelangelo's words concerning his last days.

"I live alone and miserable, trapped as marrow under the bark of the tree. My voice is like a wasp caught in a bag of skin and bones. My teeth shake and rattle like the keys of a musical instrument. My face is a scarecrow. My ears never cease to buzz. In one of them, a spider weaves its web, in the other one, a cricket sings all night long. My rattling catarrh won't let me sleep. This is the state where art has led me, after granting me glory. Poor, old, beaten, I will be reduced to nothing, if death does not come swiftly to my rescue. Pains have quartered me, torn me, broken me and death is the only inn awaiting me.

Michelangelo died on February 18th, 1564, after a "slow fever." IT was said of Michelangelo that he left "his soul to God, his body to the earth, and his material possessions to his nearest relations." There was not much left in his house because he had burnt most of it.

Lionardo Buonarroti, Michelanglo's nephew, took his uncle's body to Florence. Here the remains were taken to Santa Croce (where Michelangelo himself h ad wanted to be buried). There was a large attendance at the funeral to celebrate the life of a beloved artist.