A five hundred year-old document, recently discovered in the Rome State Archives, has thrown light on the Rome career of Michaeolangelo Buonarroti. Dated 7 September 1498, the fragile piece of paper testifies that Michaelangelo, Jacopo Galli and a third witness were involved in a Rome property transaction. Its importance lies in the fact that it is proof that that year the young Buonarroti was living in Jacopo Gallis house. Galli was close to the powerful Cardinal Raffaele Riario and was a key figure in the artists Rome debut.
The relationship did not start under the best auspices. A couple of years earlier, in Florence, Michaelangelo had been persuaded by Lorenzo di Pier Francesco Medici to try to pass off a statue of Cupid that he had sculpted as a piece of classical sculpture. The statue was put on the Rome antique market and purchased by the Cardinal who, however, was a connoisseur of ancient art and recognized at once that he had been tricked. Consequently, he sent his trusted banker, Jacopo Galli, to Florence to get his money back. Nonetheless, he was so impressed with Michaelangelos talent that he invited the artist to Rome and commissioned the celebrated Bacchus with a Satyr The episode launched Buonarotti Rome career, leading on to greater and greater works of genius.
