Michelangelo's theory of art

Excerpt from the Introduction: We shall set for this study the task of seeking the sources of Michelangelo's ideas and concepts, including those on the periphery of his art theory. We shall look for them in Plato, Aristotle, Plotinus, and in other Hellenic or Alexandrian writers available in translation or widely discussed in the Cinquecento, for apparently Michelangelo knew no Greek. We shall hunt for them in Horace, Ovid, Vitruvius, Ficino, Pliziano, and other Latin and neo-Latin writers. Did Michelangelo know Latin? His schoolmaster Francesco da Urbino must have taught him some Latin "in its least graceful and grimmest form" (Brion), but his schooling ceased early... Nor can we escape the obligation to correlate Michelangelo's theories with his creative productions in all the arts, seeking their meaning to their composer...We shall study in what measure his theoretical ideas affected his technique and even his choice of subject matter.