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The Torment of Saint Anthony

Michelangelo's earliest known painting, made at twelve

The Torment of Saint Anthony

Michelangelo painted this at twelve, copying Martin Schongauer’s engraving of Saint Anthony assailed by demons — his earliest known work, made around 1487 in Domenico Ghirlandaio’s Florence workshop. He tightened Schongauer’s composition and swapped Egypt for the Arno Valley landscape he actually knew; Vasari says he studied fish scales at the market to render the demons’ skin. Tempera on a panel just 18½ by 13¾ inches, it’s one of only four easel paintings attributed to Michelangelo, and the only one in the Americas.

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