How Did Michelangelo Die?

Michelangelo died on 18 February 1564 in Rome, aged eighty eight, after a short fever. He had been carving marble just days before, and his body was then smuggled out of Rome and carried home to Florence to be buried.

He worked almost to his last breath, chisel still in hand.

And his death set off a quiet tug of war over where the great man would rest.

Working to the very end

Michelangelo lived an extraordinarily long life for his time. In his final years he was chief architect of St Peter's, and he kept sculpting for himself, struggling with the rough, haunting Rondanini Pieta.

He was still chipping at that unfinished figure only days before he fell ill. For a man who believed the sculptor freed a body from the stone, it was a fitting last act.

A quiet death in Rome

In mid February 1564 he caught a fever and weakened fast. He died in his house in Rome, attended by a few friends, fully aware and composed, at the age of eighty eight.

By the standards of the sixteenth century, when many artists died young, he had lived almost two full lifetimes.

The body smuggled to Florence

Rome wanted to keep him and bury him with honor. But Michelangelo had wished to rest in Florence, his home city.

His nephew Lionardo arranged for the body to be taken out of Rome discreetly, packed as a bale of goods to avoid objections, and brought to Florence. He was buried in the church of Santa Croce, where his tomb still stands. For the whole life, see the complete Michelangelo story, and the work he left half done in the Pieta.

Common questions about Michelangelo's death

When did Michelangelo die? On 18 February 1564.
How old was he? Eighty eight.
How did he die? Of a short fever, in Rome.
Was he still working? Yes, on the Rondanini Pieta, days before.
Where is he buried? In Santa Croce in Florence, after his body was taken from Rome.

The last block of marble

Michelangelo died as he had lived, with a chisel near at hand and a figure still trapped in the stone. He spent eighty eight years setting such figures free, and the very last one he never finished, which may be the truest monument he could have left.