Michelangelo asked the prior at the Church of Santo Spirito to allow him to study the anatomy of the bodies of people who had died at the churchâ s hospital . In 1493 , as a â thank-you â gift to the prior , Michelangelo carved a large wooden Crucifix which still hangs in the church . In the following months he carved a wooden crucifix ( 1493 ) , as a gift to the prior of the Florentine church of Santo Spirito , who had permitted him some studies of anatomy on the corpses of the church 's hospital .