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The second fall of the Medici In 1527 the Medici were expelled a second time from Florence (the first one being in 1494, leading to the rise of Savanarola and the staging of the "Bonfires of the Vanities" where "profane" works and objects were burned publicly in Piazza Signoria). Michelangelo, always at heart a republican, despite his ties to the Medici, took active part in the 1527-29 war against his former masters. Though he fled the city in 1529, he soon returned and took part in the war until the capitulation of Florence in 1530, being responsible for overseeing the fortifications of the city. During the following anarchy Michelangelo was a wanted man. He was hidden by the Prior of S. Lorenzo in a concealed crypt under the Medici Chapel. There is in fact a crypt there, known as the “Secret Room of Michelangelo”, the walls of which are covered in graffiti attributed to the great artist and which can be visited at certain times. After the Medici were reinstated Michelangelo was pardoned and set once more to work on the Medici Chapel. On 23 December 1523 Clement VII wrote to Michelangelo, pressing him to finish the work. |