Maggie's Farm

He wrote lots of poetry. This is a piece he wrote about the travails of painting the Sistine chapel ceiling:

I’ve already grown a goiter from this torture,
hunched up here like a cat in Lombardy
(or anywhere else where the stagnant water’s poison).
My stomach’s squashed under my chin, my beard’s
pointing at heaven, my brain’s crushed in a casket,
my breast twists like a harpy’s. My brush,
above me all the time, dribbles paint
so my face makes a fine floor for droppings!

That is via  Art Is Work. It Isn’t Theory. - Great masterpieces don't flow out without devotion and sacrifice.

Here's a fun essay:  Was Michelangelo the first celebrity artist?

Probably was. Before the Renaissance, artists were artisans and nobody knew or cared who made the pretty pictures. Same with music too.