So—was Michelangelo in love with a man?

 

Letters he exchanged with the handsome young nobleman Tommaso dei Cavalieri certainly suggest the possibility.

 His letters were often accompanied by small, intimate drawings, like this one called ‘The Fall of Phaeton’. The tale warns of the dangers of hubris and succumbing to lust.

 It's important to remember that Michelangelo and his contemporaries didn’t have the same categories of sexuality that we understand today: people were more likely to be judged by their sexual acts rather than their emotional connections.

 In Renaissance Florence, religious doctrine threatened those who practised same-sex relationships with an eternity in hell. Michelangelo was a deeply pious man, who would have been unlikely to jeopardise the worthiness of his soul.

 None of this means that Michelangelo did not love Tommaso – it seems likely that he did, and that it was a unique and overwhelming experience for him. In Michelangelo’s first surviving letter, he says he waded out into the stream of Tommaso’s virtues only to discover it was a vast ocean with towering waves.

 Despite this, there is no evidence to suggest that the relationship ever became physical.

What emerges from their correspondence is instead a tender portrait of a deeply intimate bond, full of mutual love and admiration. While Tommaso would later marry their relationship would last the rest of Michelangelo's life, with Tommaso being present at his deathbed ❤️