Michelangelo's artistic development took place in Florence, the "cradle of the Renaissance," a city that possessed an extraordinary wealth of architecture, sculpture, and painting. Here the young Michelangelo Buonarroti was able to study at first-hand the works of the major figures of the early Renaissance, in particular the frescoes of Masaccio and Giotto. And on his walks through the town he made drawings of its art and architecture - a valuable exercise for a young Florentine artist.
After leaving school early, Michelangelo, despite his father's opposition, began an apprenticeship in the workshop of the fresco painter Domenico Ghirlandaio. Just one year later, however, he left Ghirlandaio and turned his back on painting. Determined to be a sculptor, he studied in the gardens of the powerful Medici family, devoting himself to observations of the antique statues kept there. Lorenzo de' Medici soon learned of Michelangelo's talent and took him into his household "as a son," thus becoming Michelangelo's first patron.