January 16, 2026
Holy art war, Batman!
Michelangelo's First Painting, Created When He Was Only 12 or 13 Years Old
Genius tween or copycat? Internet argues over demons, brushes, and what “first” even means
TLDR: Experts and scans say a tween Michelangelo painted The Torment of Saint Anthony, now in Texas; commenters feud over whether it’s truly his “first,” an original, or just a study copy. The big drama: authenticity vs hype, plus why a 12-year-old was so into desert demons.
Michelangelo’s alleged “first painting” — a hellish scene called The Torment of Saint Anthony — just lit up the comments section like a Renaissance Reddit. The art world points to infrared scans showing correction marks (proof of originality) and the Kimbell Art Museum backing the attribution after the Met cleaned it and saw Sistine-level color vibes. But the crowd’s split: not his first, say skeptics, calling it a practice copy of a popular engraving; others say the pentimenti scream “young genius testing his powers.”
The hottest fight? Semantics. What does “first painting” even mean — canvas, oil, or, like, first one that didn’t get lost? One camp insists no kid just picks up a brush and nails it; another counters that prodigies do weirdly impossible things. Meanwhile, a side quest debate exploded: why is a tween painting demons attacking a saint? Cue jokes about “Renaissance metal album art” and “Michelangelo’s emo phase.”
It’s high drama: some cheering the discovery as the only Michelangelo painting in the Americas, others rolling their eyes at marketing hype. Between awe and eye-rolls, the thread turned into a masterclass in art nerdery, parental horror, and meme energy — with everyone arguing, laughing, and googling what “pentimenti” means.
Key Points
- •Michelangelo’s The Torment of Saint Anthony was painted when he was about 12–13, based on a known engraving.
- •After its 2008 sale at Sotheby’s, the painting was examined and cleaned at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
- •Cleaning and analysis revealed stylistic features consistent with Michelangelo’s later work, including the Sistine Chapel.
- •Infrared reflectography found pentimenti, indicating originality rather than a copy.
- •The Kimbell Art Museum acquired the painting; later, art historian Giorgio Bonsanti confirmed the attribution, though some doubts remain.