Michelangelo wanted the world to see him as a “real genius” and all of his final artistic work as effortless. He wanted to hide the countless hours of preliminary drawings and castes made from the public. Michelangelo near the time of his death, asked Leonardo Sellaio to burn all the drawings left in his house.

It takes planning, awareness, and education to build an estate and Michelangelo certainly did a level of that. It has been documented that Michelangelo was a miser, greedy, and aggressive about money. He had two bank accounts, one in Florence and the other in Rome. Michelangelo would be considered a multi-millionaire in today’s dollars. The estimated amount of his estate worth around $45 million in US dollars and 35 million in British Sterling pounds.

Questions come to mind, such as how did he learn to handle money? Did Michelangelo plan to have this level of wealth, which far exceeded other artists of his day. Did he seek the advice of an expert on money. Michelangelo could have spent money easily. His talent and work would have brought him more. Why was Michelangelo a miser about money? Was it fear? A perception that money was not in abundance?