Renaissance master Michelangelo made a wicked snowman

Renaissance sculptor Michelangelo Buonarotti’s most famous work is likely his interpretation of David, cut from a single block of marble. Few know, however, of his short-lived work with another medium, snow. In his book “Michelangelo and the Reinvention of the Human Body” (p. 27), author James Hall writes that there was a heavy snow in Florence in January of 1494 that stayed on the ground for several days.

Apparently, soon after the snowfall, Michelangelo, then almost 19, was commissioned by Piero de’ Medici to make a sculpture from the snow. Unfortunately, we don’t know what the subject of the sculpture was, but it was said to be very beautiful. Surely it was something a bit more magnificent than 3 stacked balls of snow and a scarf.

Now that I know that he had the opportunity, it seems pretty natural that he would want to give snow sculpting a shot. But at the same time, it’s beyond intriguing to me that such an inspirational sculptor at one point worked with a medium SO SIMILAR to ice. I mean, snow IS ice, just in tiny sifted flake form. As a sculpting medium though, snow and ice are pretty different.

Typically, I don’t sweat the ephemeral nature of sculpting ice and snow, but it’s rare indeed to have a singular talent like Michelangelo turn his attention to it. So in this case, to have no idea what he sculpted that day is particularly frustrating! It might even make my list of “what would I check out if I had a time machine?” Perhaps it’s a silly entry on the list, but I still would like to know.