Act I Scene I
Piero
And what of Michelangelo? What incentivises him? 

Machiavelli
Himself. His legacy. His faith, his ambition. We need no contract with him. He is from a family of the most obnoxious snobs. With nothing to be snobbish about. He’s a workaholic, unrelenting, striving to prove himself not only to his heavenly father but his bullying earthly father, and to provide for his ungrateful family. Desperate to banish the image his father has of him and to buy his favour. But also to establish himself as the greatest artist of all time.

Piero
And so we let him paint his nudes.

Machiavelli
You can’t commission any great artist without giving them artistic freedom. Times are changing.  Leonardo here works only on projects he wants to do …..and  I must say I approve, why commission an artist and tell them what to do. Why appoint a general and tell him how to win the battle. Beside, Michelangelo’s scene will help recruit for the Citizen’s Army. It shows camaraderie, togetherness, humanity. Not the horrors of war. We intend to recruit our own citizens to fight…with our own uniforms… not rely on expensive, paid mercenaries. That is the future. 

Piero
So this is simply a huge recruitment poster for the Republic’s Army? Heroic men with somewhat strange muscles.

Act III Scene III
Cosimo
I think Michelangelo wanted to be like Leonardo but just couldn’t do it. When you have been raised by a domineering father who controls your life it’s impossible to change. He eventually found favour with his family by restoring their fortune but never made peace with himself……....but he did eventually get the muscles in the right places. Leonardo painted the Last Supper. Michelangelo painted the Last Judgement. That just about sums them up.

Act II Scene I
Leonardo
That’s wonderful Michelangelo, you are so hard on yourself. You can be anything you want to be. I actually think you would make a great Architect. It is a different kind of religion. But you’ll have to develop some social skills first. Architects need social skills. Sculptors obviously don’t.

Michelangelo
You think you are some sort of prophet. Helicopters, submarines, flying machines, aeroplanes…..flights of fancy.

Leonardo
You forgot….Bicycles. 

Michelangelo
What’s a bicycle?

Leonardo
Bicycles are the future. Self propelled ….convenient. Sustainable form of efficient transport.

Michelangelo
You might have an idea, but an idea is nothing unless you make it work. You know everyone sees you as a dreamer. Not a prophet. An imbecile.

Leonardo
Perhaps. But I like ideas. I bet we'll all be riding bicycles one day. You cant stop men dreaming. That’s what we do…..Unless you hold them back with stories of damnation.