r/todayilearned • u/MyKinkyCountess • 6d ago

TIL that Michelangelo spent two months hiding in the underground chamber while evading a death sentence ordered by the Pope

https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2023/oct/31/michelangelo-secret-sketches-under-church-in-florence-open-to-public
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u/LupusDeusMagnus 6d ago

IIRC, Michelangelo worked on fortifications for the city after the Medici were deposed and the city was put to siege. They eventually forgave him, and he kept working on the chapel.

Basically he participated in military action against his patrons and got pardoned.

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u/jodhod1 6d ago edited 6d ago

Like how Socrates' was hanged by Athens for his links to the Oligarchs.

Edit: yes, I somehow got the hemlock part completely wrong. I bow in shame.

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u/Clever_Mercury 6d ago

That's not what happened. Socrates committed suicide (or fulfilled his death sentence, depending on how you look at it) with hemlock after his notoriously public trial for impiety and "corrupting the youth" in Athens.

He asked his jury to either give him a lifetime of free meals at the Prytaneum for having been a teacher or to give him death. Arguably, he was killed BECAUSE he questioned the status quo, or those with traditional power.

His death is literally a template of martyrdom since he publicly and accepted the verdict of death, despite being given numerous chances to either be acquitted, have a lesser verdict, or even to escape after the verdict. His 'apology' speech [the word originally meant justification, not repentance] during the trial was basically him goading the public to vote for his death to prove a point; he was willing to die for the right to engage in philosophical discussion in pursuit of truth and did NOT want to be held accountable for how others (anyone, not the wealthy/powerful, not the 'commoners' ) manipulated those messages. Nor would he bow to the tradition of gods or those in power. He was thus judged impious.

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u/Argyle_Raccoon 6d ago

Thanks for writing that all out, tracks with what I remember and now I don’t have to go look it up to remind myself!