Michelangelo by Mia

Michelangelo´s 'Pieta' at St Peter´s Basilica

Michelangelo is one of the most famous names around. He was the ultimate Renaissance man; a master of many different art forms. Michelangelo was a renowned painter, sculptor, poet and architect. His masterpieces are world famous, especially his statue, 'David', and the frescoes in the Sistine Chapel (which we saw in the Vatican). Although those are the most famous, they are far from the only works he did. His 89 year long life was full of art and is documented extremely well.

Michelangelo Di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni was born on the 6th of March, 1475 in Caprese, Florence (modern day Tuscany, Italy). At age six, his mother died, and he went to live with a stone cutter and his wife in Settignano, where his father owned a marble quarry and a small farm. Living there near the quarry no doubt helped his skill in sculpture. As a young boy, his father sent him to study grammar with Francesco da Urbino in Florence. However, he had little interest in his schooling and preferred to copy paintings from churches and seek the company of painters. At thirteen, he dropped out and became apprenticed to Domenico Ghirlandaio, where he was one of the painter´s best pupils. Then, in 1490, Michelangelo attended the Humanist academy (founded by the Medicis) where he studied sculpture and was exposed to some of the most prominent writers and philosophers of the day, which influenced both his outlook and his art. There he sculpted the reliefs of 'Madonna on the Steps' and 'Battle of the Centaurs' (which was commissioned by Lorenze de Medici).

St Marks Cathedral in Venice. Not really related to Michelangelo,
but it´s nice.

In 1495 Michelangelo went to Florence where he carved two miniature figures: 'St John the Baptist' and 'Sleeping Cupid'. Then he returned to Rome and stayed there for the next five years, carving 'Bacchus' and his famous 'Pieta'. When he returned to Florence in 1501, business really started booming. He was contracted to carve the Piccolomini Altar, and then commissioned to carve 'David', his most famous work which secured his status as an incredible sculptor. By 1504, he had finished 'David' and was promptly commissioned to paint the 'Battle so Cascina', though he considered himself a sculptor and not a painter. Then, just the next year he was commisioned to make the tomb of Pope Julius II. For the next forty years he worked on the Pope´s tomb, moving between Rome and Florence, and completing many other works as well. During that time he carved 'Moses', 'Rebelious and Dying Slaves', 'Rachel', and 'Leah'.

He also frescoed the ceiling and altar wall of the Sistine Chapel. The ceiling has an interesting story. He was commissioned by Pope Julius II to only paint the 12 Apostales against a starry sky, but he lobbied for a different, more complex scene. It ended up containing over 300 figures. Among the most famous paintings on the ceiling are The Creation of Adam, Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, the Great Flood, the Prophet Isaiah and the Cumaean Sibyl. The Pope was not entirely happy with the new plans, and Michelangelo was not really cooperating with him. In fact, at one point it got so intense that the Pope punched Michelangelo in the face. He also painted The Last Judgement on the colossal altar wall. Then, in 1546, he was appointed Cheif Architect at St Peter´s Basilica as a replacement to Antonio da Sangalla the Younger. He designed only the dome, as the rest of the building had been finished by the previous architect. Becasue he was 74 at the time, people feared that Michelangelo would die before it was completed, but once the bottom part, the supporting ring, was finished, it was inevitable that the design would be completed.

On the 18th of Febuary, 1564, Michelangelo died at age 88 (3 weeks before his 89th birthday), in the Palpal States in Rome. He was remembered as the best artist of his time, and remains one of the best of all time. His most famous works completed before his 30th birthday, he was truely a born artist and a bit of a prodigy. The sheer volume of documents he left, sketches, notes, and poems, makes him the best documented artist ot he 16th century. He was also one of the only people of his time to have a biography published before his death. Nothing like some other artists who didn´t become famous until after their death. Michelangelo was an undesputed master of the arts, in his time as well as the present, and probably the future.