Michelangelo, Bacchus, 1497, Florence, Bargello. This early work by Michelangelo was commissioned by Cardinal Raffaele Riario, who, however, refused to take ownership of the completed statue. A recent thesis connects this to the fact that Pope Alexander VI had appointed Riario to a reform commission he set up after the murder of his son, Juan Borgia, in 1497. Michelangelo's louche statue became an embarrassment in the circumstances. #SubtlestSoul.
