The Italy into which Michelangelo is born in 1475 is a patchwork of fourteen rival states and kingdoms. Of these, the Republic of Florence—stretching from the west coast of Italy to well east of the city itself—is particularly well placed for the European trade routes, and it has become dominant as a commercial and banking center. The Medici, a banking family, maintain political control of the state. In Michelangelo's youth, Lorenzo de Medici controls Florence, presiding over the blossoming of the Italian Renaissance.

Florentines realize that they live in a very special period in the development of art. Brunelleschi's Duomo, Giotto's Campanile, Ghiberti's Gates of Paradise, and Donatello's sculpture, give the city an unmatched visual identity. The Medici appreciate and lavishly support fine art, and both artists and patrons compare this era to golden ages of the past.

The Medici concentration of wealth and power...