In the New York Times, Frank Bruni writes:

The man who lavished his time and energy on many a Renaissance masterpiece did not lavish his money on many people, including himself. Michelangelo, beneath it all, was a miser.

That is one conclusion of a recently published book, The Wealth of Michelangelo, by a professor of art history who found in Renaissance archives a surprising financial profile of unacknowledged wealth and unwarranted thrift.

Although Michelangelo bellyached aplenty about deprivation and has often been cast as somewhat poor, he died in 1564 with the modern equivalent of tens of millions of dollars, according to the professor, Rab Hatfield, an American who teaches at the Syracuse University program in Florence.

That money was not some late-in-life windfall. Professor Hatfield's research shows that for most of Michelangelo's nearly 89 years, he was marginally, moderately, or massively rich. But he often refused to show it, and often declined to share it.

"He was the richest artist of all time," at least until that time, Professor Hatfield said in an interview.

"He took in huge amounts," he said. "It was phenomenal."

And yet, Professor Hatfield said, Michelangelo would complain to family members about how short of money he was, melodramatically bemoaning his lot while warding off their requests for help.

On the road with a pair of assistants, Michelangelo would get just one bed for all of them, and the reason, Professor Hatfield said, was not erotic but economic. The artist was hoarding his lucre.