Michelangelo would go on to create many masterpieces, but his miraculous transformation of a shepherd boy into the physical embodiment of Florence would prove to be a defining moment in his artistic career.
Doctors said the 15-year-old herder from a mountain village caught the disease through being bitten by an infected flea possibly from a marmot, a type of ground squirrel that is sometimes cooked for food.
And the glossy brown cows were so gentle That they moved at the touch of his hand O'er the wonderful, rosy-red meadow, And they stood at the word of command.