Did You Know?

Michelangelo claimed that solitude was a necessary pre-requisite to creating great works of art. He believed that artists should 'shun society' in order to devote themselves to their work. Michelangelo himself was a rather solitary and sometimes melancholic individual. He 
won himself a reputation of being bizzaro e fantastico because he withdrew himself from the company of men. However, he had and was loved by close friends--as well as by his countrymen. It would be incorrect to describe him as a recluse.