The root of the style of Michael Angelo may be seen in the works of Donatello and in the pulpits of San Lorenzo.

His study of the antique,( 64) modified by his love of grace, of high finish, and his own powerful character, only had to be added to complete the perfect flower of Florentine art, Michael Angelo, the topmost bloom of the lily.
[Image #2] THE RAPE OF DEIANEIRA AND THE BATTLE OF THE CENTAURS CASA BUONARROTI, FLORENCE (_By permission of the Fratelli Alinari.

Florence_) By good fortune, Michael Angelo attracted the notice of Lorenzo the Magnificent, as Condivi has related;( 65) and thus at the age of fifteen years he entered the most cultured house in Italy and there acquired that distinction of style that he kept all through his life, both in his art and his manner.

In these halcyon days at this hospitable table Michael Angelo met such men as Massilio Ficino, the interpreter of Plato; Pico della Mirandola, the phoenix of erudition; Luigi Pulci and Angelo Poliziano--the latter is supposed to have incited Michael Angelo to carve the bas-relief( 66) now in the Casa Buonarroti, called by Condivi "The rape of Deianeira and the battle of the Centaurs." This is the earliest work that we know from the master's hand to which we can give a date; it already shows his double love for the Hellenistic and for the Tuscan styles.

The degree of relief is alto-rilievo, like those on the Roman sarcophagi and the pulpits of the Pisani; in shape it is almost as high as it is long; this unusual proportion is similar to some of the divisions of the bronze reliefs in the Donatello pulpits at San Lorenzo.