Michelangelo's list of products. The Casa Buonarroti Museum in Florence, Italy. 1518/Wikimedia Commons
This is a unique, well-preserved document written in the hand of the master himself: a list of grocery items to last a few days. It seems as if the artist’s helper was not terribly literate, and most of the items on the list have a picture next to them to make them clearer. From the list, it appears as though the artist was planning three meals, and the list is divided into three parts.
First meal
Two loaves of bread, a jug of wine, herring, one portion of tortellini, and salad.
Second meal (there may have been a guest present)
Four loaves of bread, a pitcher of wine, a quarter of a litre of light sweet wine (it is possible that the guest was a woman), a plate of spinach, four anchovies (this was not always the tiny fish used as pizza toppings and in stuffed olives, as European anchovies can be of a decent size), and a portion of tortellini.
Third meal (there may have been a guest expected again)
Six loaves of bread, two bowls of fennel soup, a herring, and a pitcher of red wine.
Judging by the lack of meat, milk, and eggs on the menu it could be safe to assume that the artist was buying these items during lent, most likely the great lent before Easter as fennel and spinach are in season in Italy around that time.