10 May 2025 The Future is the Product of the Past

Michelangelo, the artistic giant, was actually rather short

The legendary Michelangelo Buonarroti left huge works behind as an artist. But Italian researchers found that the shoes of this giant artist were not big at all.

Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (6 March 1475 – 18 February 1564) was an Italian Renaissance painter, sculptor, architect, and poet.

Italian researchers have studied three shoes said to have belonged to Michelangelo that were discovered in his home after his death and is now housed at the Casa Buonarroti Museum in Florence, Italy: a pair of leather shoes and a solitary leather slipper (the companion was stolen in 1873). The findings were published in the September 2021 issue of the journal Anthropologie.

The study is the first to assess the artist’s physical features based on measurements of personal things such as footwear, and they discovered that Michelangelo, although still an artistic giant, stood no more than 5 feet 2 inches (1.6 meters).

FAPAB researchers Francesco Galassi, a paleopathologist, and Elena Varotto, a forensic anthropologist, measured the shoes and determined the wearer’s foot measurements and height, and their findings matched a description of Michelangelo by 16th-century artist and writer Giorgio Vasari. According to the research, Vasari said that Michelangelo was “wide in the shoulders,” but the rest of his physique was “slightly thin in proportion” and his stature was average.

Michelangelo's alleged shoes, in the collection of Florence's Casa Buonarroti Museum.
Michelangelo’s alleged shoes, in the collection of Florence’s Casa Buonarroti Museum. Photo: Casa Museo Buonarroti/Anthropologie

According to experts at the Forensic Anthropology, Paleopathology, and Bioarchaeology Research Center (FAPAB) in Avola, Italy, while this is a very small height for a European adult man by today’s standards, it would not have been unusual during the time Michelangelo lived (1475–1564).

The shoes have long been linked to Michelangelo, but it’s also conceivable that they belonged to another male in the artist’s home, such as a family member or one of Michelangelo’s descendants, the scientists said.

Scientists can’t be confident about Michelangelo’s condition when he died at the age of 88 since his remains have never been unearthed and examined. According to the authors, investigations like these might assist fill in some of the physical characteristics concerning Michelangelo near the end of his life.

Originally published on Live Science.

Related Articles

Portugal’s Enigmatic Roman Building “Tower of Centum Cellas”

4 February 2024

4 February 2024

The Tower of Centum Cellas (also known as the “Tower of St. Cornelius”), located in the Mount of Santo Antão...

Interesting from Each Other 7 Amazing Historical Discoveries

21 April 2021

21 April 2021

Archaeologists signed interesting from each other and magnificent discoveries with their work in the last 20 years. Let’s take a...

Spain’s little-known Viking history is being uncovered

9 August 2021

9 August 2021

Spain has been subjected to more invasions and conquests than any other European country. And, while the Roman, Visigothic, and...

Mysterious Archaeological find in Flanders Revealed to be Hernia Truss

24 May 2021

24 May 2021

The hernia truss found during the Hopmarkt excavations in Aalst, in the Belgian state of East Flanders, was a surprise...

How Was the Life of Teenager in Ancient Times?

1 March 2021

1 March 2021

Youth is the same in every era. Not so hard to guess. How was your life as a teenager? You...

4,000 Years of Wisdom: Women’s Rights and Inheritance in the Kültepe Tablets

8 March 2025

8 March 2025

The Kültepe Tablets, discovered in the ancient site of Kültepe (ancient Kanesh) in central Anatolia, are approximately 4,000 years old...

Tutankhamun of Kazakhstan, “Golden Man”

1 August 2024

1 August 2024

The Golden Man, the main symbol of Kazakhstan’s independence, is a warrior’s costume from about the 5th century BC that...

1,000-year-old Chicken Egg Found in Israel

9 June 2021

9 June 2021

Archaeologists discover almost fully intact but nearly empty egg and three rare Islamic-period bone dolls in excavation of settlement dating...

The Oldest Basket in the World was Found in Israel

16 March 2021

16 March 2021

The Antiquities Authority announced on Tuesday that a large, well-preserved woven basket was found in the Jude Desert, with a...

Ancient ‘hangover cure’ found at Israel winery excavation

11 November 2021

11 November 2021

Israeli archaeologists have unearthed an ancient amethyst ring thought to have been worn to stop hangover at the world’s largest...

World’s Oldest Murder

14 February 2021

14 February 2021

Researchers found a mass grave in a cave in Spain, now known as Sima de los Huesos, or the Pit...

World’s First Pregnant Ancient Egyptian Mummy has been Discovered

29 April 2021

29 April 2021

Experts from the Polish Academy of Sciences aim to research all mummies in museums as part of the Warsaw Mummy...

Venice of the Pacific: The mysterious Micronesian ruins of Nan Madol

12 July 2022

12 July 2022

Sometimes art and architecture challenge our perceptions of what was formerly thought to be feasible and what our forefathers were...

The World’s First Pet Cemetery May Have Been Found in Ancient Egypt

2 March 2021

2 March 2021

Hundreds of animal skeletons found in Berenice harbor in 2011 made researchers think that this place was used as a...

People knew how to make bread 14,400 years ago

15 May 2022

15 May 2022

Archaeological finds in Jordan’s Black Desert show that humans used stone ovens to bake bread 14,400 years ago. Researchers have...