In this case I should have probably used 'funded', but in those days not having a religion was not really an option.

Michelangelo was at continuous odds with his employers during his lifetime, he dissected corpses illegally at first, later with tacit approval of some of the church bigwigs in order to improve his skills as an artist. It was a continuous give-and-take to see who got the most out of the arrangement.

In the end I think we, the future dwellers able to see his work no matter what caused them to come into being are the real winners.

Not bad for a man who declared himself unfit to execute the work because he was a sculptor, not a painter...

There is a very good book about him that I forgot the title of (I read it ages ago).