Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (; 6 March 1475 – 18 February 1564), known as Michelangelo (), was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the
High Renaissance
In art history, the High Renaissance was a short period of the most exceptional artistic production in the Italian states, particularly Rome, capital of the Papal States, and in Florence, during the Italian Renaissance. Most art historians stat ...
. Born in the
Republic of Florence
The Republic of Florence, officially the Florentine Republic ( it, Repubblica Fiorentina, , or ), was a medieval and early modern state that was centered on the Italian city of Florence in Tuscany. The republic originated in 1115, when the Flo ...
, his work was inspired by models from
classical antiquity
Classical antiquity (also the classical era, classical period or classical age) is the period of cultural history between the 8th century BC and the 5th century AD centred on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of ...
and had a lasting influence on
Western art
The art of Europe, or Western art, encompasses the history of visual art in Europe. European prehistoric art started as mobile Upper Paleolithic rock and cave painting and petroglyph art and was characteristic of the period between the Paleol ...
. Michelangelo's creative abilities and mastery in a range of artistic arenas define him as an archetypal
Renaissance man
A polymath ( el, πολυμαθής, , "having learned much"; la, homo universalis, "universal human") is an individual whose knowledge spans a substantial number of subjects, known to draw on complex bodies of knowledge to solve specific pro ...
, along with his rival and elder contemporary,
Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 14522 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, Drawing, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially res ...
.
Given the sheer volume of surviving correspondence, sketches, and reminiscences, Michelangelo is one of the best-documented artists of the 16th century. He was lauded by contemporary biographers as the most accomplished artist of his era.
Michelangelo achieved fame early; two of his best-known works, the ''
Pietà
The Pietà (; meaning "pity", "compassion") is a subject in Christian art depicting the Virgin Mary cradling the dead body of Jesus after his body was removed from the cross. It is most often found in sculpture. The Pietà is a specific form o ...
'' and ''
David
David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...
'', were sculpted before the age of thirty. Although he did not consider himself a painter, Michelangelo created two of the most influential
fresco
Fresco (plural ''frescos'' or ''frescoes'') is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaste ...
es in the history of Western art: the scenes from Genesis on the
ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome, and ''
The Last Judgment
The Last Judgment, Final Judgment, Day of Reckoning, Day of Judgment, Judgment Day, Doomsday, Day of Resurrection or The Day of the Lord (; ar, یوم القيامة, translit=Yawm al-Qiyāmah or ar, یوم الدین, translit=Yawm ad-Dīn, ...
'' on its altar wall. His design of the
Laurentian Library
The Laurentian Library (Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana or BML) is a historic library in Florence, Italy, containing more than 11,000 manuscripts and 4,500 early printed books. Built in a cloister of the Medicean Basilica di San Lorenzo di Firenze ...
pioneered
Mannerist architecture
Mannerism, which may also be known as Late Renaissance, is a style in European art that emerged in the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520, spreading by about 1530 and lasting until about the end of the 16th century in Italy, ...
. At the age of 71, he succeeded
Antonio da Sangallo the Younger
250px, A model of the Apostolic Palace, which was the main project of Bramante during Sangallo's apprenticeship.
250px, The church of Santa Maria di Loreto near the Rome.html"_;"title="Trajan's_Market_in_Rome">Trajan's_Market_in_Rome.
image: ...
as the architect of
St. Peter's Basilica
The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican ( it, Basilica Papale di San Pietro in Vaticano), or simply Saint Peter's Basilica ( la, Basilica Sancti Petri), is a church built in the Renaissance style located in Vatican City, the papal en ...
. Michelangelo transformed the plan so that the western end was finished to his design, as was the dome, with some modification, after his death.
Michelangelo was the first Western artist whose
biography
A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or ...
was published while he was alive.
In fact, two biographies were published during his lifetime. One of them, by
Giorgio Vasari
Giorgio Vasari (, also , ; 30 July 1511 – 27 June 1574) was an Italian Renaissance Master, who worked as a painter, architect, engineer, writer, and historian, who is best known for his work ''The Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculpt ...
, proposed that Michelangelo's work transcended that of any artist living or dead, and was "supreme in not one art alone but in all three."
In his lifetime, Michelangelo was often called ''Il Divino'' ('the divine one'). His contemporaries often admired his ''
terribilità
Terribilità, the modern Italian spelling, (or terribiltà, as Michelangelo's 16th century contemporaries tended to spell it) is a quality ascribed to his art that provokes terror, awe, or a sense of the sublime in the viewer. It is perhaps espec ...
''—his ability to instill a sense of awe in viewers of his art. Attempts by subsequent artists to imitate the expressive physicality of Michelangelo's style contributed to the rise of
Mannerism
Mannerism, which may also be known as Late Renaissance, is a style in European art that emerged in the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520, spreading by about 1530 and lasting until about the end of the 16th century in Italy, ...
, a short-lived movement in Western art following the High Renaissance.
Life
Early life, 1475–1488
Michelangelo was born on 6 March 1475 in
Caprese, known today as Caprese Michelangelo, a small town situated in Valtiberina, near
Arezzo
Arezzo ( , , ) , also ; ett, 𐌀𐌓𐌉𐌕𐌉𐌌, Aritim. is a city and ''comune'' in Italy and the capital of the province of the same name located in Tuscany. Arezzo is about southeast of Florence at an elevation of above sea level. ...
,
Tuscany
Tuscany ( ; it, Toscana ) is a Regions of Italy, region in central Italy with an area of about and a population of about 3.8 million inhabitants. The regional capital is Florence (''Firenze'').
Tuscany is known for its landscapes, history, art ...
.
[J. de Tolnay, ''The Youth of Michelangelo'', p. 11] For several generations, his family had been small-scale bankers in
Florence
Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...
; but the bank failed, and his father, Ludovico di Leonardo Buonarroti Simoni, briefly took a government post in Caprese, where Michelangelo was born.
At the time of Michelangelo's birth, his father was the town's
judicial administrator and ''
podestà
Podestà (, English: Potestate, Podesta) was the name given to the holder of the highest civil office in the government of the cities of Central and Northern Italy during the Late Middle Ages. Sometimes, it meant the chief magistrate of a city ...
'' or local administrator of
Chiusi della Verna
Chiusi della Verna is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Arezzo in the Italian region Tuscany, located about east of Florence and about north of Arezzo. It is in the Casentino traditional region.
Chiusi della Verna borders the fol ...
. Michelangelo's mother was Francesca di Neri del Miniato di Siena.
[C. Clément, ''Michelangelo'', p. 5] The Buonarrotis claimed to descend from the Countess
Mathilde of Canossa
Matilda of Tuscany ( it, Matilde di Canossa , la, Matilda, ; 1046 – 24 July 1115 or Matilda of Canossa after her ancestral castle of Canossa), also referred to as ("the Great Countess"), was a member of the House of Canossa (also known as ...
—a claim that remains unproven, but which Michelangelo believed.
Several months after Michelangelo's birth, the family returned to Florence, where he was raised. During his mother's later prolonged illness, and after her death in 1481 (when he was six years old), Michelangelo lived with a nanny and her husband, a stonecutter, in the town of
Settignano Settignano is a ''frazione'' on a hillside northeast of Florence, Italy. The little '' borgo'' of Settignano carries a familiar name for having produced three sculptors of the Florentine Renaissance, Desiderio da Settignano and the Gamberini brother ...
, where his father owned a marble quarry and a small farm.
There he gained his love for marble. As
Giorgio Vasari
Giorgio Vasari (, also , ; 30 July 1511 – 27 June 1574) was an Italian Renaissance Master, who worked as a painter, architect, engineer, writer, and historian, who is best known for his work ''The Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculpt ...
quotes him:
Apprenticeships, 1488–1492
![Buonarotti-scala](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b2/Buonarotti-scala.jpg)
As a young boy, Michelangelo was sent to
Florence
Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...
to study
grammar
In linguistics, the grammar of a natural language is its set of structure, structural constraints on speakers' or writers' composition of clause (linguistics), clauses, phrases, and words. The term can also refer to the study of such constraint ...
under the
Humanist
Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting point for serious moral and philosophical inquiry.
The meaning of the term "humani ...
Francesco da Urbino.
[A. Condivi, ''The Life of Michelangelo'', p. 9] He showed no interest in his schooling, preferring to copy paintings from churches and seek the company of other painters.
The city of Florence was at that time Italy's greatest centre of the arts and learning.
[Coughlan, Robert; (1978), ''The World of Michelangelo'', Time-Life; pp. 14–15] Art was sponsored by the Signoria (the town council), the merchant guilds, and wealthy patrons such as the
Medici
The House of Medici ( , ) was an Italian banking family and political dynasty that first began to gather prominence under Cosimo de' Medici, in the Republic of Florence during the first half of the 15th century. The family originated in the Muge ...
and their banking associates.
[Coughlan, pp. 35–40] The
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...
, a renewal of
Classical scholarship and the arts, had its first flowering in Florence.
[ In the early 15th century, the architect ]Filippo Brunelleschi
Filippo Brunelleschi ( , , also known as Pippo; 1377 – 15 April 1446), considered to be a founding father of Renaissance architecture, was an Italian architect, designer, and sculptor, and is now recognized to be the first modern engineer, p ...
, having studied the remains of Classical buildings in Rome, had created two churches, San Lorenzo's and Santo Spirito, which embodied the Classical precepts. The sculptor Lorenzo Ghiberti
Lorenzo Ghiberti (, , ; 1378 – 1 December 1455), born Lorenzo di Bartolo, was an Italian Renaissance sculptor from Florence, a key figure in the Early Renaissance, best known as the creator of two sets of bronze doors of the Florence Baptistery ...
had laboured for fifty years to create the north and east bronze doors of the Baptistry
In Christian architecture the baptistery or baptistry (Old French ''baptisterie''; Latin ''baptisterium''; Greek , 'bathing-place, baptistery', from , baptízein, 'to baptize') is the separate centrally planned structure surrounding the baptismal ...
, which Michelangelo was to describe as "The Gates of Paradise". The exterior niches of the Church of Orsanmichele
Orsanmichele (; "Kitchen Garden of St. Michael", from the Tuscan contraction of the Italian word ''orto'') is a church in the Italian city of Florence. The building was constructed on the site of the kitchen garden of the monastery of San Michel ...
contained a gallery of works by the most acclaimed sculptors of Florence: Donatello
Donato di Niccolò di Betto Bardi ( – 13 December 1466), better known as Donatello ( ), was a Republic of Florence, Florentine sculptor of the Renaissance period. Born in Republic of Florence, Florence, he studied classical sculpture and use ...
, Ghiberti, Andrea del Verrocchio
Andrea del Verrocchio (, , ; – 1488), born Andrea di Michele di Francesco de' Cioni, was a sculptor, Italian painter and goldsmith who was a master of an important workshop in Florence. He apparently became known as ''Verrocchio'' after the su ...
, and Nanni di Banco
Nanni d'Antonio di Banco ( 1384 – 1421) was an Italian Renaissance sculptor from Florence.
Early life
He was born to artist Antonio di Banco, who worked on the Cathedral of Florence in Florence, Italy. Historians have tried to deter ...
.[ The interiors of the older churches were covered with frescos (mostly in Late Medieval, but also in the Early Renaissance style), begun by ]Giotto
Giotto di Bondone (; – January 8, 1337), known mononymously as Giotto ( , ) and Latinised as Giottus, was an Italian painter and architect from Florence during the Late Middle Ages. He worked during the Gothic/Proto-Renaissance period. Giot ...
and continued by Masaccio
Masaccio (, , ; December 21, 1401 – summer 1428), born Tommaso di Ser Giovanni di Simone, was a Florentine artist who is regarded as the first great Italian painter of the Quattrocento period of the Italian Renaissance. According to Vasari, ...
in the Brancacci Chapel
The Brancacci Chapel (in Italian language, Italian, "Cappella dei Brancacci") is a chapel in the Church of Santa Maria del Carmine di Firenze, Santa Maria del Carmine in Florence, central Italy. It is sometimes called the "Sistine Chapel of the ...
, both of whose works Michelangelo studied and copied in drawings.[Coughlan, pp. 28–32]
During Michelangelo's childhood, a team of painters had been called from Florence to the Vatican to decorate the walls of the Sistine Chapel
The Sistine Chapel (; la, Sacellum Sixtinum; it, Cappella Sistina ) is a chapel in the Apostolic Palace, the official residence of the pope in Vatican City. Originally known as the ''Cappella Magna'' ('Great Chapel'), the chapel takes its name ...
. Among them was Domenico Ghirlandaio
Domenico di Tommaso Curradi di Doffo Bigordi (, , ; 2 June 1448 – 11 January 1494), professionally known as Domenico Ghirlandaio, also spelled as Ghirlandajo, was an Italian Renaissance painter born in Florence. Ghirlandaio was part of ...
, a master in fresco painting, perspective, figure drawing and portraiture who had the largest workshop in Florence.[ In 1488, at age 13, Michelangelo was apprenticed to Ghirlandaio.][R. Liebert, ''Michelangelo: A Psychoanalytic Study of his Life and Images'', p. 59] The next year, his father persuaded Ghirlandaio to pay Michelangelo as an artist, which was rare for someone of fourteen. When in 1489, Lorenzo de' Medici
Lorenzo di Piero de' Medici (; 1 January 1449 – 8 April 1492) was an Italian statesman, banker, ''de facto'' ruler of the Florentine Republic and the most powerful and enthusiastic patron of Renaissance culture in Italy. Also known as Lorenzo ...
, de facto ruler of Florence, asked Ghirlandaio for his two best pupils, Ghirlandaio sent Michelangelo and Francesco Granacci
Francesco Granacci (1469 – 30 November 1543) was an Italian Renaissance painter active primarily in his native Florence. Though little-known today, he was regarded in his time and is featured in Giorgio Vasari's ''Lives of the Artists''.
...
.
From 1490 to 1492, Michelangelo attended the Platonic Academy
The Academy (Ancient Greek: Ἀκαδημία) was founded by Plato in c. 387 BC in Classical Athens, Athens. Aristotle studied there for twenty years (367–347 BC) before founding his own school, the Lyceum (classical), Lyceum. The Academy ...
, a Humanist academy founded by the Medici. There, his work and outlook were influenced by many of the most prominent philosophers and writers of the day, including Marsilio Ficino
Marsilio Ficino (; Latin name: ; 19 October 1433 – 1 October 1499) was an Italian scholar and Catholic priest who was one of the most influential humanist philosophers of the early Italian Renaissance. He was an astrologer, a reviver of ...
, Pico della Mirandola
Giovanni Pico della Mirandola (24 February 1463 – 17 November 1494) was an Italian Renaissance nobleman and philosopher. He is famed for the events of 1486, when, at the age of 23, he proposed to defend 900 theses on religion, philosophy, ...
and Poliziano
Agnolo (Angelo) Ambrogini (14 July 1454 – 24 September 1494), commonly known by his nickname Poliziano (; anglicized as Politian; Latin: '' Politianus''), was an Italian classical scholar and poet of the Florentine Renaissance. His scho ...
.[J. de Tolnay, ''The Youth of Michelangelo'', pp. 18–19] At this time, Michelangelo sculpted the reliefs ''Madonna of the Stairs
The ''Madonna of the Stairs'' (or ''Madonna of the Steps'') is a relief sculpture by Michelangelo in the Casa Buonarroti, Florence. It was sculpted around 1490, when Michelangelo was about fifteen. This and the ''Battle of the Centaurs (Michelange ...
'' (1490–1492) and ''Battle of the Centaurs
A centaur ( ; grc, κένταυρος, kéntauros; ), or occasionally hippocentaur, is a creature from Greek mythology with the upper body of a human and the lower body and legs of a horse.
Centaurs are thought of in many Greek myths as being ...
'' (1491–1492),[ the latter based on a theme suggested by Poliziano and commissioned by Lorenzo de' Medici.][A. Condivi, ''The Life of Michelangelo'', p. 15] Michelangelo worked for a time with the sculptor Bertoldo di Giovanni
Bertoldo di Giovanni (after 1420, in Poggio a Caiano – 28 December 1491, in Florence) was an Italian Renaissance sculptor and medallist.
Life
Bertoldo was a pupil of Donatello. He worked in Donatello's workshop for many years, completing ...
. When he was seventeen, another pupil, Pietro Torrigiano
Pietro Torrigiano (24 November 1472 – July/August 1528) was an Italian Renaissance sculptor from Florence, who had to flee the city after breaking Michelangelo's nose. He then worked abroad, and died in prison in Spain. He was important in ...
, struck him on the nose, causing the disfigurement that is conspicuous in the portraits of Michelangelo.
Bologna, Florence and Rome, 1492–1499
Lorenzo de' Medici's death on 8 April 1492 brought a reversal of Michelangelo's circumstances.[J. de Tolnay, ''The Youth of Michelangelo'', pp. 20–21] Michelangelo left the security of the Medici court and returned to his father's house. In the following months he carved a polychrome wooden ''Crucifix
A crucifix (from Latin ''cruci fixus'' meaning "(one) fixed to a cross") is a cross with an image of Jesus on it, as distinct from a bare cross. The representation of Jesus himself on the cross is referred to in English as the ''corpus'' (Lati ...
'' (1493), as a gift to the prior of the Florentine church of Santo Spirito, which had allowed him to do some anatomical
Anatomy () is the branch of biology concerned with the study of the structure of organisms and their parts. Anatomy is a branch of natural science that deals with the structural organization of living things. It is an old science, having it ...
studies of the corpses from the church's hospital.[A. Condivi, ''The Life of Michelangelo'', p. 17] This was the first of several instances during his career that Michelangelo studied anatomy by dissecting cadavers.
Between 1493 and 1494, he bought a block of marble, and carved a larger-than-life statue of Hercules
Hercules (, ) is the Roman equivalent of the Greek divine hero Heracles, son of Jupiter and the mortal Alcmena. In classical mythology, Hercules is famous for his strength and for his numerous far-ranging adventures.
The Romans adapted the Gr ...
, which was sent to France and subsequently disappeared sometime in the 18th century. On 20 January 1494, after heavy snowfalls, Lorenzo's heir, Piero de Medici, commissioned a statue made of snow, and Michelangelo again entered the court of the Medici.
In the same year, the Medici were expelled from Florence as the result of the rise of Savonarola
Girolamo Savonarola, OP (, , ; 21 September 1452 – 23 May 1498) or Jerome Savonarola was an Italian Dominican friar from Ferrara and preacher active in Renaissance Florence. He was known for his prophecies of civic glory, the destruction of ...
. Michelangelo left the city before the end of the political upheaval, moving to Venice
Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...
and then to Bologna
Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...
. In Bologna, he was commissioned to carve several of the last small figures for the completion of the Shrine of St. Dominic, in the church dedicated to that saint. At this time Michelangelo studied the robust reliefs carved by Jacopo della Quercia
Jacopo della Quercia (, ; 20 October 1438), also known as Jacopo di Pietro d'Agnolo di Guarnieri, was an Italian sculptor of the Renaissance, a contemporary of Brunelleschi, Ghiberti and Donatello. He is considered a precursor of Michelangelo.
...
around the main portal of the Basilica of St Petronius, including the panel of ''The Creation of Eve'', the composition of which was to reappear on the Sistine Chapel ceiling
The Sistine Chapel ceiling ( it, Soffitto della Cappella Sistina), painted in fresco by Michelangelo between 1508 and 1512, is a cornerstone work of High Renaissance Renaissance art, art. The Sistine Chapel is the large papal chapel built with ...
. Towards the end of 1495, the political situation in Florence was calmer; the city, previously under threat from the French, was no longer in danger as Charles VIII had suffered defeats. Michelangelo returned to Florence but received no commissions from the new city government under Savonarola. He returned to the employment of the Medici.[J. de Tolnay, ''The Youth of Michelangelo'', pp. 24–25] During the half-year he spent in Florence, he worked on two small statues, a child ''St. John the Baptist'' and a sleeping ''Cupid
In classical mythology, Cupid (Latin Cupīdō , meaning "passionate desire") is the god of desire, lust, erotic love, attraction and affection. He is often portrayed as the son of the love goddess Venus (mythology), Venus and the god of war Mar ...
''. According to Condivi, Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de' Medici
Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de' Medici (4 August 1463 – 20 May 1503), nicknamed ''the Popolano'', was an Italian banker and politician, the brother of Giovanni il Popolano. He belonged to the junior (or "Popolani") branch of the House of Medi ...
, for whom Michelangelo had sculpted ''St. John the Baptist'', asked that Michelangelo "fix it so that it looked as if it had been buried" so he could "send it to Rome ... pass t off as
T, or t, is the twentieth letter in the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''tee'' (pronounced ), plural ''tees''. It is der ...
an ancient work and ... sell it much better." Both Lorenzo and Michelangelo were unwittingly cheated out of the real value of the piece by a middleman. Cardinal Raffaele Riario
Raffaele Sansoni Galeoti Riario (3 May 1461 – 9 July 1521) was an Italian Cardinal of the Renaissance, mainly known as the constructor of the Palazzo della Cancelleria and the person who invited Michelangelo to Rome. He was a patron of the ...
, to whom Lorenzo had sold it, discovered that it was a fraud, but was so impressed by the quality of the sculpture that he invited the artist to Rome.[A. Condivi, ''The Life of Michelangelo'', pp. 19–20] This apparent success in selling his sculpture abroad as well as the conservative Florentine situation may have encouraged Michelangelo to accept the prelate's invitation.
Michelangelo arrived in Rome on 25 June 1496[J. de Tolnay, ''The Youth of Michelangelo'', pp. 26–28] at the age of 21. On 4 July of the same year, he began work on a commission for the banker Jacopo Galli, for his garden, an over-life-size statue of the Roman wine god ''Bacchus
In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, myth, Dionysus (; grc, wikt:Διόνυσος, Διόνυσος ) is the god of the grape-harvest, winemaking, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstas ...
''.
In November 1497, the French ambassador to the Holy See, Cardinal Jean de Bilhères-Lagraulas, commissioned him to carve a ''Pietà
The Pietà (; meaning "pity", "compassion") is a subject in Christian art depicting the Virgin Mary cradling the dead body of Jesus after his body was removed from the cross. It is most often found in sculpture. The Pietà is a specific form o ...
'', a sculpture showing the Virgin Mary
Mary; arc, ܡܪܝܡ, translit=Mariam; ar, مريم, translit=Maryam; grc, Μαρία, translit=María; la, Maria; cop, Ⲙⲁⲣⲓⲁ, translit=Maria was a first-century Jewish woman of Nazareth, the wife of Joseph and the mother o ...
grieving over the body of Jesus. The subject, which is not part of the Biblical narrative of the Crucifixion, was common in religious sculpture of Medieval Northern Europe and would have been very familiar to the Cardinal.[ The contract was agreed upon in August of the following year. Michelangelo was 24 at the time of its completion.][Hirst and Dunkerton pp. 47–55] It was soon to be regarded as one of the world's great masterpieces of sculpture, "a revelation of all the potentialities and force of the art of sculpture". Contemporary opinion was summarised by Vasari: "It is certainly a miracle that a formless block of stone could ever have been reduced to a perfection that nature is scarcely able to create in the flesh." It is now located in St Peter's Basilica
The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican ( it, Basilica Papale di San Pietro in Vaticano), or simply Saint Peter's Basilica ( la, Basilica Sancti Petri), is a church built in the Renaissance style located in Vatican City, the papal en ...
.
Florence, 1499–1505
Michelangelo returned to Florence in 1499. The Republic
A republic () is a "state in which power rests with the people or their representatives; specifically a state without a monarchy" and also a "government, or system of government, of such a state." Previously, especially in the 17th and 18th c ...
was changing after the fall of its leader, anti-Renaissance priest Girolamo Savonarola
Girolamo Savonarola, OP (, , ; 21 September 1452 – 23 May 1498) or Jerome Savonarola was an Italian Dominican friar from Ferrara and preacher active in Renaissance Florence. He was known for his prophecies of civic glory, the destruction of ...
, who was executed in 1498, and the rise of the ''gonfaloniere'' Piero Soderini
Piero di Tommaso Soderini (March 17, 1451 – June 13, 1522) also known as Pier Soderini, was an Italian statesman of the Republic of Florence.
Biography
Soderini was born in Florence to Tommaso di Lorenzo Soderini, a member of an old family ...
. Michelangelo was asked by the consuls of the Guild of Wool to complete an unfinished project begun 40 years earlier by Agostino di Duccio
Agostino di Duccio (1418 – ) was an early Renaissance Italians, Italian sculptor.
Born in Florence, he worked in Prato with Donatello and Michelozzo, who influenced him greatly. In 1441, he was accused of stealing precious materials from ...
: a colossal statue of Carrara marble
Carrara marble, Luna marble to the Romans, is a type of white or blue-grey marble popular for use in sculpture and building decor. It has been quarried since Roman times in the mountains just outside the city of Carrara in the province of Massa ...
portraying David
David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...
as a symbol of Florentine freedom to be placed on the gable of Florence Cathedral
Florence Cathedral, formally the (; in English Cathedral of Saint Mary of the Flower), is the cathedral of Florence, Italy ( it, Duomo di Firenze). It was begun in 1296 in the Gothic style to a design of Arnolfo di Cambio and was structurally c ...
.[Paoletti and Radke, pp. 387–89] Michelangelo responded by completing his most famous work, the statue of ''David
David (; , "beloved one") (traditional spelling), , ''Dāwūd''; grc-koi, Δαυΐδ, Dauíd; la, Davidus, David; gez , ዳዊት, ''Dawit''; xcl, Դաւիթ, ''Dawitʿ''; cu, Давíдъ, ''Davidŭ''; possibly meaning "beloved one". w ...
'', in 1504. The masterwork definitively established his prominence as a sculptor of extraordinary technical skill and strength of symbolic imagination. A team of consultants, including Botticelli
Alessandro di Mariano di Vanni Filipepi ( – May 17, 1510), known as Sandro Botticelli (, ), was an Italian painter of the Early Renaissance. Botticelli's posthumous reputation suffered until the late 19th century, when he was rediscovered ...
, Leonardo da Vinci
Leonardo di ser Piero da Vinci (15 April 14522 May 1519) was an Italian polymath of the High Renaissance who was active as a painter, Drawing, draughtsman, engineer, scientist, theorist, sculptor, and architect. While his fame initially res ...
, Filippino Lippi
Filippino Lippi (April 1457 – 18 April 1504) was an Italian painter working in Florence, Italy during the later years of the Early Renaissance and first few years of the High Renaissance.
Biography
Filippino Lippi was born in Prato, Tusc ...
, Pietro Perugino
Pietro Perugino (, ; – 1523), born Pietro Vannucci, was an Italian Renaissance Painting, painter of the Umbrian school, who developed some of the qualities that found classic expression in the High Renaissance. Raphael was his most famous pup ...
, Lorenzo di Credi
Lorenzo di Credi (1456/59 – January 12, 1537) was an Italian Renaissance painter and sculptor best known for his paintings of religious subjects. He is most famous for having worked in the studio of Andrea del Verrocchio at the same time a ...
, Antonio
Antonio is a masculine given name of Etruscan origin deriving from the root name Antonius. It is a common name among Romance language-speaking populations as well as the Balkans and Lusophone Africa. It has been among the top 400 most popular male ...
and Giuliano da Sangallo
Giuliano da Sangallo (c. 1445 – 1516) was an Italian sculptor, architect and military engineer active during the Italian Renaissance. He is known primarily for being the favored architect of Lorenzo de' Medici, his patron. In this role, Giulia ...
, Andrea della Robbia, Cosimo Rosselli
Cosimo Rosselli (; 1439–1507) was an Italian painter of the Quattrocento, active mainly in his birthplace of Florence, but also in Pisa earlier in his career and in 1481–82 in the Sistine Chapel in Rome, where he painted some of the large ...
, Davide Ghirlandaio
Davide Ghirlandaio (1452–1525), also known as David Ghirlandaio and as Davide Bigordi, was an Italian painter and mosaicist, active in his native Florence.
His brothers Benedetto Ghirlandaio (1458–1497) and Domenico Ghirlandaio (1449–149 ...
, Piero di Cosimo
Piero di Cosimo (2 January 1462 – 12 April 1522), also known as Piero di Lorenzo, was an Italian painter of the Renaissance.
He is most famous for the mythological and allegorical subjects he painted in the late Quattrocento; he is said to ...
, Andrea Sansovino
Andrea dal Monte Sansovino or Andrea Contucci del Monte San Savino (1529) was an Italian sculptor active during the High Renaissance. His pupils include Jacopo Sansovino (no relation).
Biography
He was the son of Domenico Contucci of Monte S ...
and Michelangelo's dear friend Francesco Granacci
Francesco Granacci (1469 – 30 November 1543) was an Italian Renaissance painter active primarily in his native Florence. Though little-known today, he was regarded in his time and is featured in Giorgio Vasari's ''Lives of the Artists''.
...
, was called together to decide upon its placement, ultimately the Piazza della Signoria, in front of the Palazzo Vecchio
The Palazzo Vecchio ( "Old Palace") is the City hall, town hall of Florence, Italy. It overlooks the Piazza della Signoria, which holds a copy of Michelangelo's ''David (Michelangelo), David'' statue, and the gallery of statues in the adjacent ...
. It now stands in the Academia
An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary education, secondary or tertiary education, tertiary higher education, higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membershi ...
while a replica occupies its place in the square. In the same period of placing the ''David'', Michelangelo may have been involved in creating the sculptural profile on Palazzo Vecchio's façade known as the Importuno di Michelangelo
The ''Importuno di Michelangelo'' ("The Nuisance by Michelangelo") is the profile of a man's head carved on the façade of Palazzo Vecchio in Florence, recently attributed to the artist Michelangelo Buonarroti by Adriano Marinazzo. This new hy ...
. The hypothesis on Michelangelo's possible involvement in the creation of the profile is based on the strong resemblance of the latter to a profile drawn by the artist, datable to the beginning of the 16th century, now preserved in the Louvre
The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...
.
With the completion of the ''David'' came another commission. In early 1504 Leonardo da Vinci had been commissioned to paint ''The Battle of Anghiari
The Battle of Anghiari was fought on 29 June 1440, between the forces of Milan and the League of some Italian states led by the Republic of Florence in the course of the Wars in Lombardy. The battle was a victory for the Florentines, securing F ...
'' in the council chamber of the Palazzo Vecchio, depicting the battle between Florence and Milan in 1440. Michelangelo was then commissioned to paint the ''Battle of Cascina
The Battle of Cascina was an engagement between Pisan and Florentine troops on 28 July 1364 near Cascina, modern-day Italy. Florence's victory followed a recent defeat to Pisan forces that had enabled mercenary John Hawkwood, who was in comman ...
''. The two paintings are very different: Leonardo depicts soldiers fighting on horseback, while Michelangelo has soldiers being ambushed as they bathe in the river. Neither work was completed and both were lost forever when the chamber was refurbished. Both works were much admired, and copies remain of them, Leonardo's work having been copied by Rubens
Sir Peter Paul Rubens (; ; 28 June 1577 – 30 May 1640) was a Flemish artist and diplomat from the Duchy of Brabant in the Southern Netherlands (modern-day Belgium). He is considered the most influential artist of the Flemish Baroque traditio ...
and Michelangelo's by Bastiano da Sangallo
Bastiano da Sangallo (1481May 31, 1551) was an Italian sculptor, painter and architect of the Renaissance period, active mainly in Tuscany. He was a nephew of Giuliano da Sangallo and Antonio da Sangallo the Elder. He is usually known as Aristotil ...
.
Also during this period, Michelangelo was commissioned by Angelo Doni to paint a "Holy Family
The Holy Family consists of the Child Jesus, the Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph. The subject became popular in art from the 1490s on, but veneration of the Holy Family was formally begun in the 17th century by Saint François de Laval, the first ...
" as a present for his wife, Maddalena Strozzi. It is known as the ''Doni Tondo
The ''Doni Tondo'' or ''Doni Madonna'', is the only finished panel painting by the mature Michelangelo to survive. (Two other panel paintings, generally agreed to be by Michelangelo but unfinished, ''The Entombment'' and the so-called '' Manche ...
'' and hangs in the Uffizi Gallery in its original magnificent frame, which Michelangelo may have designed.[Goldscheider, p. 11] He also may have painted the Madonna and Child with John the Baptist
John the Baptist or , , or , ;Wetterau, Bruce. ''World history''. New York: Henry Holt and Company. 1994. syc, ܝܘܿܚܲܢܵܢ ܡܲܥܡܕ݂ܵܢܵܐ, Yoḥanān Maʿmḏānā; he, יוחנן המטביל, Yohanān HaMatbil; la, Ioannes Bapti ...
, known as the ''Manchester Madonna __NOTOC__
''The Madonna and Child with St John and Angels'' (c. 1497), also known as ''The Manchester Madonna'', is an unfinished painting attributed to Michelangelo in the National Gallery, London. It is one of three surviving panel paintings ...
'' and now in the National Gallery
The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director o ...
, London.
Tomb of Julius II, 1505–1545
In 1505 Michelangelo was invited back to Rome by the newly elected Pope Julius II
Pope Julius II ( la, Iulius II; it, Giulio II; born Giuliano della Rovere; 5 December 144321 February 1513) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 1503 to his death in February 1513. Nicknamed the Warrior Pope or th ...
and commissioned to build the Pope's tomb, which was to include forty statues and be finished in five years.[Goldscheider, pp. 14–16] Under the patronage of the pope, Michelangelo experienced constant interruptions to his work on the tomb in order to accomplish numerous other tasks.
The commission for the tomb forced the artist to leave Florence
Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...
with his planned ''Battle of Cascina'' painting unfinished. By this time, Michelangelo was established as an artist; both he and Julius II had hot tempers and soon argued. On 17 April 1506, Michelangelo left Rome in secret for Florence, remaining there until the Florentine government pressed him to return to the pope.
Although Michelangelo worked on the tomb for 40 years, it was never finished to his satisfaction. It is located in the Church of San Pietro in Vincoli in Rome and is most famous for the central figure of Moses, completed in 1516. Of the other statues intended for the tomb, two, known as the ''Rebellious Slave
The ''Rebellious Slave'' is a 2.15m high marble statue by Michelangelo, dated to 1513. It is now held in the Louvre in Paris.
History
The two "slaves" of the Louvre date to the second version of the tomb of Pope Julius II which was commissio ...
'' and the ''Dying Slave
The ''Dying Slave'' is a sculpture by the Italian Renaissance artist Michelangelo. Created between 1513 and 1516, it was to serve with another figure, the ''Rebellious Slave'', at the tomb of Pope Julius II. It is a marble figure 2.15 metres (7' ...
'', are now in the Louvre
The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...
.
Sistine Chapel ceiling, 1505–1512
During the same period, Michelangelo painted the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, which took approximately four years to complete (1508–1512).[Bartz and König, p. 134] According to Condivi's account, Bramante
Donato Bramante ( , , ; 1444 – 11 April 1514), born as Donato di Pascuccio d'Antonio and also known as Bramante Lazzari, was an Italian architect and painter. He introduced Renaissance architecture to Milan and the High Renaissance style ...
, who was working on the building of St. Peter's Basilica
The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican ( it, Basilica Papale di San Pietro in Vaticano), or simply Saint Peter's Basilica ( la, Basilica Sancti Petri), is a church built in the Renaissance style located in Vatican City, the papal en ...
, resented Michelangelo's commission for the pope's tomb and convinced the pope to commission him in a medium with which he was unfamiliar, in order that he might fail at the task. Michelangelo was originally commissioned to paint the Twelve Apostles
In Christian theology and ecclesiology, the apostles, particularly the Twelve Apostles (also known as the Twelve Disciples or simply the Twelve), were the primary disciples of Jesus according to the New Testament. During the life and minist ...
on the triangular pendentive
In architecture, a pendentive is a constructional device permitting the placing of a circular dome over a square room or of an elliptical dome over a rectangular room. The pendentives, which are triangular segments of a sphere, taper to points ...
s that supported the ceiling, and to cover the central part of the ceiling with ornament.[Goldscheider, pp. 12–14] Michelangelo persuaded Pope Julius II to give him a free hand and proposed a different and more complex scheme, representing the Creation
Creation may refer to:
Religion
*''Creatio ex nihilo'', the concept that matter was created by God out of nothing
* Creation myth, a religious story of the origin of the world and how people first came to inhabit it
* Creationism, the belief tha ...
, the Fall of Man
The fall of man, the fall of Adam, or simply the Fall, is a term used in Christianity to describe the transition of the first man and woman from a state of innocent obedience to God in Christianity, God to a state of guilty disobedience.
*
*
*
* ...
, the Promise of Salvation through the prophets, and the genealogy of Christ
The New Testament provides two accounts of the genealogy of Jesus, one in the Gospel of Matthew and another in the Gospel of Luke. Matthew starts with Abraham, while Luke begins with Adam. The lists are identical between Abraham and David, but ...
. The work is part of a larger scheme of decoration within the chapel that represents much of the doctrine of the Catholic Church.
The composition stretches over 500 square metres of ceiling and contains over 300 figures.[ At its centre are nine episodes from the ]Book of Genesis
The Book of Genesis (from Greek ; Hebrew: בְּרֵאשִׁית ''Bəreʾšīt'', "In hebeginning") is the first book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. Its Hebrew name is the same as its first word, ( "In the beginning") ...
, divided into three groups: God's creation of the earth; God's creation of humankind and their fall from God's grace; and lastly, the state of humanity as represented by Noah
Noah ''Nukh''; am, ኖህ, ''Noḥ''; ar, نُوح '; grc, Νῶε ''Nôe'' () is the tenth and last of the pre-Flood patriarchs in the traditions of Abrahamic religions. His story appears in the Hebrew Bible (Book of Genesis, chapters 5– ...
and his family. On the pendentives supporting the ceiling are painted twelve men and women who prophesied the coming of Jesus, seven prophet
In religion, a prophet or prophetess is an individual who is regarded as being in contact with a divine being and is said to speak on behalf of that being, serving as an intermediary with humanity by delivering messages or teachings from the s ...
s of Israel, and five Sibyl
The sibyls (, singular ) were prophetesses or oracles in Ancient Greece.
The sibyls prophesied at holy sites.
A sibyl at Delphi has been dated to as early as the eleventh century BC by PausaniasPausanias 10.12.1 when he described local traditi ...
s, prophetic women of the Classical world.[ Among the most famous paintings on the ceiling are ]The Creation of Adam
'' Creation of Adam'' () is a fresco painting by Italian artist Michelangelo, which forms part of the Sistine Chapel's ceiling, painted c. 1508–1512. It illustrates the Biblical creation narrative from the Book of Genesis in which God gives li ...
, Adam and Eve
Adam and Eve, according to the creation myth of the Abrahamic religions, were the first man and woman. They are central to the belief that humanity is in essence a single family, with everyone descended from a single pair of original ancestors. ...
in the Garden of Eden
In Abrahamic religions, the Garden of Eden ( he, גַּן־עֵדֶן, ) or Garden of God (, and גַן־אֱלֹהִים ''gan-Elohim''), also called the Terrestrial Paradise, is the Bible, biblical paradise described in Book of Genesis, Genes ...
, the Deluge
A deluge is a large downpour of rain, often a flood.
The Deluge refers to the flood narrative in the Biblical book of Genesis.
Deluge may also refer to:
History
*Deluge (history), the Swedish and Russian invasion of the Polish-Lithuanian Comm ...
, the Prophet Jeremiah
Jeremiah, Modern: , Tiberian: ; el, Ἰερεμίας, Ieremíās; meaning " Yah shall raise" (c. 650 – c. 570 BC), also called Jeremias or the "weeping prophet", was one of the major prophets of the Hebrew Bible. According to Jewish ...
, and the Cumaean Sibyl
The Cumaean Sibyl was the priestess presiding over the Apollonian oracle at Cumae, a Greek colony located near Naples, Italy. The word ''sibyl'' comes (via Latin) from the ancient Greek word ''sibylla'', meaning prophetess. There were many sibyls ...
.
Florence under Medici popes, 1513 – early 1534
In 1513, Pope Julius II died and was succeeded by Pope Leo X
Pope Leo X ( it, Leone X; born Giovanni di Lorenzo de' Medici, 11 December 14751 December 1521) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 March 1513 to his death in December 1521.
Born into the prominent political an ...
, the second son of Lorenzo de' Medici.[ From 1513 to 1516, Pope Leo was on good terms with Pope Julius's surviving relatives, so encouraged Michelangelo to continue work on Julius's tomb, but the families became enemies again in 1516 when Pope Leo tried to seize the ]Duchy of Urbino
The Duchy of Urbino was an independent duchy in early modern central Italy, corresponding to the northern half of the modern region of Marche. It was directly annexed by the Papal States in 1625.
It was bordered by the Adriatic Sea in the east ...
from Julius's nephew Francesco Maria I della Rovere
Francesco Maria I della Rovere (25 March 1490 – 20 October 1538) was an Italian condottiero, who was Duke of Urbino from 1508 to 1516 and, after retaking the throne from Lorenzo II de' Medici, from 1521 to 1538.
Biography
He was born ...
. Pope Leo then had Michelangelo stop working on the tomb, and commissioned him to reconstruct the façade of the Basilica of San Lorenzo in Florence and to adorn it with sculptures. He spent three years creating drawings and models for the façade, as well as attempting to open a new marble quarry at Pietrasanta Pietrasanta is a town and ''comune'' on the coast of northern Tuscany in Italy, in the province of Lucca. Pietrasanta is part of Versilia, on the last foothills of the Apuan Alps, about north of Pisa. The town is located off the coast, where the ...
specifically for the project. In 1520, the work was abruptly cancelled by his financially strapped patrons before any real progress had been made. The basilica lacks a façade to this day.
In 1520, the Medici came back to Michelangelo with another grand proposal, this time for a family funerary chapel in the Basilica of San Lorenzo.[ For posterity, this project, occupying the artist for much of the 1520s and 1530s, was more fully realised. Michelangelo used his own discretion to create the composition of the ]Medici Chapel
The Medici Chapels (''Cappelle medicee'') are two structures at the Basilica of San Lorenzo, Florence, Italy, dating from the 16th and 17th centuries, and built as extensions to Brunelleschi's 15th-century church, with the purpose of celebrating t ...
, which houses the large tombs of two of the younger members of the Medici family, Giuliano, Duke of Nemours, and Lorenzo, his nephew. It also serves to commemorate their more famous predecessors, Lorenzo the Magnificent
Lorenzo di Piero de' Medici (; 1 January 1449 – 8 April 1492) was an Italian statesman, banker, ''de facto'' ruler of the Florentine Republic and the most powerful and enthusiastic patron of Renaissance culture in Italy. Also known as Lorenzo ...
and his brother Giuliano, who are buried nearby. The tombs display statues of the two Medici and allegorical figures representing ''Night
Night (also described as night time, unconventionally spelled as "nite") is the period of ambient darkness from sunset to sunrise during each 24-hour day, when the Sun is below the horizon. The exact time when night begins and ends depends o ...
'' and ''Day
A day is the time period of a full rotation of the Earth with respect to the Sun. On average, this is 24 hours, 1440 minutes, or 86,400 seconds. In everyday life, the word "day" often refers to a solar day, which is the length between two so ...
'', and ''Dusk
Dusk occurs at the darkest stage of twilight, or at the very end of astronomical twilight after sunset and just before nightfall.''The Random House College Dictionary'', "dusk". At predusk, during early to intermediate stages of twilight, enou ...
'' and ''Dawn
Dawn is the time that marks the beginning of twilight before sunrise. It is recognized by the appearance of indirect sunlight being scattered in Earth's atmosphere, when the centre of the Sun's disc has reached 18° below the observer's horizo ...
''. The chapel also contains Michelangelo's ''Medici Madonna''. In 1976, a concealed corridor was discovered with drawings on the walls that related to the chapel itself.
Pope Leo X died in 1521 and was succeeded briefly by the austere Adrian VI
Pope Adrian VI ( la, Hadrianus VI; it, Adriano VI; nl, Adrianus/Adriaan VI), born Adriaan Florensz Boeyens (2 March 1459 – 14 September 1523), was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 9 January 1522 until his d ...
, and then by his cousin Giulio Medici as Pope Clement VII
Pope Clement VII ( la, Clemens VII; it, Clemente VII; born Giulio de' Medici; 26 May 1478 – 25 September 1534) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 19 November 1523 to his death on 25 September 1534. Deemed "the ...
. In 1524, Michelangelo received an architectural commission from the Medici pope for the Laurentian Library
The Laurentian Library (Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana or BML) is a historic library in Florence, Italy, containing more than 11,000 manuscripts and 4,500 early printed books. Built in a cloister of the Medicean Basilica di San Lorenzo di Firenze ...
at San Lorenzo's Church.[ He designed both the interior of the library itself and its vestibule, a building utilising architectural forms with such dynamic effect that it is seen as the forerunner of ]Baroque architecture
Baroque architecture is a highly decorative and theatrical style which appeared in Italy in the early 17th century and gradually spread across Europe. It was originally introduced by the Catholic Church, particularly by the Jesuits, as a means t ...
. It was left to assistants to interpret his plans and carry out construction. The library was not opened until 1571, and the vestibule remained incomplete until 1904.
In 1527, Florentine citizens, encouraged by the sack of Rome, threw out the Medici and restored the republic. A siege of the city ensued, and Michelangelo went to the aid of his beloved Florence by working on the city's fortifications from 1528 to 1529. The city fell in 1530, and the Medici were restored to power.[ Michelangelo fell out of favour with the young Alessandro Medici, who had been installed as the first Duke of Florence. Fearing for his life, he fled to Rome, leaving assistants to complete the Medici chapel and the Laurentian Library. Despite Michelangelo's support of the republic and resistance to the Medici rule, he was welcomed by Pope Clement, who reinstated an allowance that he had previously granted the artist and made a new contract with him over the tomb of Pope Julius.
]
Rome, 1534–1546
In Rome, Michelangelo lived near the church of Santa Maria di Loreto. It was at this time that he met the poet Vittoria Colonna
Vittoria Colonna (April 149225 February 1547), marchioness of Pescara, was an Italian noblewoman and poet. As an educated, married noblewoman whose husband was in captivity, Colonna was able to develop relationships within the intellectual circl ...
, marchioness of Pescara
Pescara (; nap, label= Abruzzese, Pescàrë; nap, label= Pescarese, Piscàrë) is the capital city of the Province of Pescara, in the Abruzzo region of Italy. It is the most populated city in Abruzzo, with 119,217 (2018) residents (and approxim ...
, who was to become one of his closest friends until her death in 1547.[A. Condivi (ed. Hellmut Wohl), ''The Life of Michelangelo'', p. 103, Phaidon, 1976.]
Shortly before his death in 1534, Pope Clement VII commissioned Michelangelo to paint a fresco of ''The Last Judgment
The Last Judgment, Final Judgment, Day of Reckoning, Day of Judgment, Judgment Day, Doomsday, Day of Resurrection or The Day of the Lord (; ar, یوم القيامة, translit=Yawm al-Qiyāmah or ar, یوم الدین, translit=Yawm ad-Dīn, ...
'' on the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel. His successor, Pope Paul III
Pope Paul III ( la, Paulus III; it, Paolo III; 29 February 1468 – 10 November 1549), born Alessandro Farnese, was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 13 October 1534 to his death in November 1549.
He came to ...
, was instrumental in seeing that Michelangelo began and completed the project, which he laboured on from 1534 to October 1541.[ The fresco depicts the Second Coming of Christ and his Judgement of the souls. Michelangelo ignored the usual artistic conventions in portraying Jesus, showing him as a massive, muscular figure, youthful, beardless and naked.][ He is surrounded by saints, among whom ]Saint Bartholomew
Bartholomew (Aramaic: ; grc, Βαρθολομαῖος, translit=Bartholomaîos; la, Bartholomaeus; arm, Բարթողիմէոս; cop, ⲃⲁⲣⲑⲟⲗⲟⲙⲉⲟⲥ; he, בר-תולמי, translit=bar-Tôlmay; ar, بَرثُولَماو ...
holds a drooping flayed skin, bearing the likeness of Michelangelo. The dead rise from their graves, to be consigned either to Heaven or to Hell.[Bartz and König, pp. 100–02]
Once completed, the depiction of Christ and the Virgin Mary naked was considered sacrilegious, and Cardinal Carafa and Monsignor Sernini (Mantua
Mantua ( ; it, Mantova ; Lombard language, Lombard and la, Mantua) is a city and ''comune'' in Lombardy, Italy, and capital of the Province of Mantua, province of the same name.
In 2016, Mantua was designated as the Italian Capital of Culture ...
's ambassador) campaigned to have the fresco removed or censored, but the Pope resisted. At the Council of Trent
The Council of Trent ( la, Concilium Tridentinum), held between 1545 and 1563 in Trento, Trent (or Trento), now in northern Italian Peninsula, Italy, was the 19th ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. Prompted by the Protestant Reformation ...
, shortly before Michelangelo's death in 1564, it was decided to obscure the genitals and Daniele da Volterra
Daniele Ricciarelli (; 15094 April 1566), better known as Daniele da Volterra (, ), was a Mannerist Italian painter and sculptor.
He is best remembered for his association with the late Michelangelo. Several of Daniele's most important works ...
, an apprentice of Michelangelo, was commissioned to make the alterations. An uncensored copy of the original, by Marcello Venusti
Marcello Venusti (1512 – 15 October 1579) was an Italian Mannerist painter active in Rome in the mid-16th century.
Native to Mazzo di Valtellina near Como, he was reputed to have been a pupil of Perino del Vaga. He is known for a scaled cop ...
, is in the Capodimonte Museum
Museo di Capodimonte is an art museum located in the Palace of Capodimonte, a grand House of Bourbon, Bourbon palazzo in Naples, Italy. The museum is the prime repository of Neapolitan painting and decorative art, with several important works ...
of Naples
Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...
.[Goldscheider, pp. 19–20]
Michelangelo worked on a number of architectural projects at this time. They included a design for the Capitoline Hill
The Capitolium or Capitoline Hill ( ; it, Campidoglio ; la, Mons Capitolinus ), between the Forum and the Campus Martius, is one of the Seven Hills of Rome.
The hill was earlier known as ''Mons Saturnius'', dedicated to the god Saturn. Th ...
with its trapezoid piazza displaying the ancient bronze statue of Marcus Aurelius
Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (Latin: áːɾkus̠ auɾέːli.us̠ antɔ́ːni.us̠ English: ; 26 April 121 – 17 March 180) was Roman emperor from 161 to 180 AD and a Stoic philosopher. He was the last of the rulers known as the Five Good ...
. He designed the upper floor of the Palazzo Farnese
Palazzo Farnese () or Farnese Palace is one of the most important High Renaissance List of palaces in Italy#Rome, palaces in Rome. Owned by the Italian Republic, it was given to the French government in 1936 for a period of 99 years, and cur ...
and the interior of the Church of Santa Maria degli Angeli, in which he transformed the vaulted interior of an Ancient Roman bathhouse. Other architectural works include San Giovanni dei Fiorentini
The Basilica of San Giovanni dei Fiorentini ("Saint John of the Florentines") is a minor basilica and a titular church in the Ponte ''rione'' of Rome, Italy.
Dedicated to St. John the Baptist, the protector of Florence, the new church for the ...
, the Sforza Chapel (Capella Sforza) in the Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore
The Basilica of Saint Mary Major ( it, Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, ; la, Basilica Sanctae Mariae Maioris), or church of Santa Maria Maggiore, is a Major papal basilica as well as one of the Seven Pilgrim Churches of Rome and the larges ...
and the Porta Pia
Porta Pia is a gate in the Aurelian Walls of Rome, Italy. One of Pope Pius IV's civic improvements to the city, it is named after him. Situated at the end of a new street, the Via Pia, it was designed by Michelangelo in replacement for the Port ...
.
St Peter's Basilica, 1546–1564
While still working on the ''Last Judgment'', Michelangelo received yet another commission for the Vatican. This was for the painting of two large frescos in the Cappella Paolina depicting significant events in the lives of the two most important saints of Rome, the ''Conversion of Saint Paul
The conversion of Paul the Apostle (also the Pauline conversion, Damascene conversion, Damascus Christophany and the "road to Damascus" event) was, according to the New Testament, an event in the life of Saul/ Paul the Apostle that led him to c ...
'' and the '' Crucifixion of Saint Peter''. Like the ''Last Judgment'', these two works are complex compositions containing a great number of figures. They were completed in 1550. In the same year, Giorgio Vasari published his ''Vita
Vita or VITA (plural vitae) is Latin for "life", and may refer to:
* ''Vita'', the usual start to the title of a biography in Latin, by which (in a known context) the work is often referred to; frequently of a saint, then called hagiography
* Vit ...
'', including a biography of Michelangelo.
In 1546, Michelangelo was appointed architect of St. Peter's Basilica
The Papal Basilica of Saint Peter in the Vatican ( it, Basilica Papale di San Pietro in Vaticano), or simply Saint Peter's Basilica ( la, Basilica Sancti Petri), is a church built in the Renaissance style located in Vatican City, the papal en ...
, Rome.[ The process of replacing the Constantinian basilica of the 4th century had been underway for fifty years and in 1506 foundations had been laid to the plans of Bramante. Successive architects had worked on it, but little progress had been made. Michelangelo was persuaded to take over the project. He returned to the concepts of Bramante, and developed his ideas for a centrally planned church, strengthening the structure both physically and visually. The dome, not completed until after his death, has been called by ]Banister Fletcher
Sir Banister Flight Fletcher (15 February 1866 – 17 August 1953) was an English architect and architectural historian, as was his father, also named Banister Fletcher. They wrote the standard textbook ''A History of Architecture'', ...
, "the greatest creation of the Renaissance".
As construction was progressing on St Peter's, there was concern that Michelangelo would pass away before the dome was finished. However, once building commenced on the lower part of the dome, the supporting ring, the completion of the design was inevitable.
On 7 December 2007, a red chalk sketch for the dome of St Peter's Basilica, possibly the last made by Michelangelo before his death, was discovered in the Vatican archives. It is extremely rare, since he destroyed his designs later in life. The sketch is a partial plan for one of the radial columns of the cupola drum of St Peter's.
Personal life
Faith
Michelangelo was a devout Catholic whose faith deepened at the end of his life. His poetry includes the following closing lines from what is known as poem 285 (written in 1554): "Neither painting nor sculpture will be able any longer to calm my soul, now turned toward that divine love that opened his arms on the cross to take us in."
Personal habits
Michelangelo was abstemious in his personal life, and once told his apprentice, Ascanio Condivi
Ascanio Condivi (1525 – 10 December 1574) was an Italian painter and writer. Generally regarded as a mediocre artist, he is primarily remembered as the biographer of Michelangelo.
Biography
The son of Latino Condivi and Vitangela de' Ric ...
: "However rich I may have been, I have always lived like a poor man."[Condivi, ''The Life of Michelangelo'', p. 106.] Michelangelo's bank accounts and numerous deeds of purchase show that his net worth was about 50,000 gold ducat
The ducat () coin was used as a trade coin in Europe from the later Middle Ages from the 13th to 19th centuries. Its most familiar version, the gold ducat or sequin containing around of 98.6% fine gold, originated in Venice in 1284 and gained wi ...
s, more than many princes and dukes of his time. Condivi said he was indifferent to food and drink, eating "more out of necessity than of pleasure"[ and that he "often slept in his clothes and ... boots."][ His biographer ]Paolo Giovio
Paolo Giovio (also spelled ''Paulo Jovio''; Latin: ''Paulus Jovius''; 19 April 1483 – 11 December 1552) was an Italian physician, historian, biographer, and prelate.
Early life
Little is known about Giovio's youth. He was a native of Com ...
says, "His nature was so rough and uncouth that his domestic habits were incredibly squalid, and deprived posterity of any pupils who might have followed him." This, however, may not have affected him, as he was by nature a solitary and melancholy person, , a man who "withdrew himself from the company of men."[Condivi, p. 102.]
Relationships and poetry
It is impossible to know for certain whether Michelangelo had physical relationships ( Condivi ascribed to him a "monk-like chastity"); speculation about his sexuality is rooted in his poetry. He wrote over three hundred sonnets and madrigals
A madrigal is a form of secular vocal music most typical of the Renaissance (15th–16th c.) and early Baroque (1600–1750) periods, although revisited by some later European composers. The polyphonic madrigal is unaccompanied, and the number ...
. The longest sequence, displaying deep romantic feeling, was written to the young Roman patrician Tommaso dei Cavalieri
Tommaso dei Cavalieri (—1587) was an Italian nobleman, who was the object of the greatest expression of Michelangelo's love. Michelangelo was 57 years old when he met Cavalieri in 1532. The young noble was exceptionally handsome, and his appear ...
(), who was 23 years old when Michelangelo first met him in 1532, at the age of 57. The Florentine Benedetto Varchi
Benedetto Varchi (; 1502/15031565) was an Italian humanist, historian, and poet.
Biography
Born in Florence to a family that had originated at Montevarchi, he frequented the neoplatonic academy that Bernardo Rucellai organized in his garden, the ...
fifteen years later described Cavalieri as of "incomparable beauty", with "graceful manners, so excellent an endowment and so charming a demeanour that he indeed deserved, and still deserves, the more to be loved the better he is known". In his "Lives of the Artists
''The Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculptors, and Architects'' ( it, Le vite de' più eccellenti pittori, scultori, e architettori), often simply known as ''The Lives'' ( it, Le Vite), is a series of artist biographies written by 16th-ce ...
", Giorgio Vasari
Giorgio Vasari (, also , ; 30 July 1511 – 27 June 1574) was an Italian Renaissance Master, who worked as a painter, architect, engineer, writer, and historian, who is best known for his work ''The Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculpt ...
observed: "But infinitely more than any of the others he loved M. Tommaso de' Cavalieri, a Roman gentleman, for whom, being a young man and much inclined to these arts, ichelangelomade, to the end that he might learn to draw, many most superb drawings of divinely beautiful heads, designed in black and red chalk; and then he drew for him a Ganymede rapt to Heaven by Jove's Eagle, a Tityus with the Vulture devouring his heart, the Chariot of the Sun falling with Phaëthon into the Po, and a Bacchanal of children, which are all in themselves most rare things, and drawings the like of which have never been seen." Scholars agree that Michelangelo became infatuated with Cavalieri.
The poems to Cavalieri make up the first large sequence of poems in any modern tongue addressed by one man to another; they predate by 50 years Shakespeare
William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
's sonnets
A sonnet is a poetic form that originated in the poetry composed at the Court of the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II in the Sicilian city of Palermo. The 13th-century poet and notary Giacomo da Lentini is credited with the sonnet's invention, ...
to the fair youth:
Cavalieri replied: "I swear to return your love. Never have I loved a man more than I love you, never have I wished for a friendship more than I wish for yours." Cavalieri remained devoted to Michelangelo until his death.[Hughes, Anthony: "Michelangelo", p. 326. Phaidon, 1997.]
In 1542, Michelangelo met Cecchino dei Bracci
Cecchino Bracci (real name Francesco de Zanobi Bracci) (Florence, 23 April 1528 – Rome, 8 January 1544) was a pupil of Michelangelo. He died at the age of sixteen and is buried in Santa Maria in Aracoeli, in a tomb designed by Michelangelo.
...
who died only a year later, inspiring Michelangelo to write 48 funeral epigrams
An epigram is a brief, interesting, memorable, and sometimes surprising or satirical statement. The word is derived from the Greek "inscription" from "to write on, to inscribe", and the literary device has been employed for over two millen ...
. Some of the objects of Michelangelo's affections, and subjects of his poetry, took advantage of him: the model Febo di Poggio
Febo di Poggio was an Italian model, affiliated with the Renaissance artist Michelangelo.
References in Michelangelo's poetry
In Michelangelo's poetry ''G.99'', he alludes to Febo as Phoebus and further puns on his surname "del Poggio" which mean ...
asked for money in response to a love-poem, and a second model, Gherardo Perini
Gherardo Perini was a model for Michelangelo and came to work for him around 1520. When Perini failed to show up to his studio, Michelangelo was distraught and stated "I beg you not to make me draw this evening since Perino's not here." On that ...
, shamelessly stole from him.
The homoerotic
Homoeroticism is sexual attraction between members of the same sex, either male–male or female–female. The concept differs from the concept of homosexuality: it refers specifically to the desire itself, which can be temporary, whereas "homose ...
nature of the poetry has been a source of discomfort to later generations. Michelangelo's grandnephew, Michelangelo Buonarroti the Younger
Michelangelo Buonarroti il Giovane (baptized 4 November 1568 – 11 January 1646) was a Florentine poet, librettist and man of letters, known as "the Younger" to distinguish him from his granduncle.
Education
From 1588 to 1591 he studied mat ...
, published the poems in 1623 with the gender of pronouns changed, and it was not until John Addington Symonds
John Addington Symonds, Jr. (; 5 October 1840 – 19 April 1893) was an English poet and literary critic. A cultural historian, he was known for his work on the Renaissance, as well as numerous biographies of writers and artists. Although m ...
translated them into English in 1893 that the original genders were restored. In modern times some scholars insist that, despite the restoration of the pronouns, they represent "an emotionless and elegant re-imagining of Platonic dialogue, whereby erotic poetry was seen as an expression of refined sensibilities", but others read his poems at face value, as a confession of preference for young men over women.
Late in life, Michelangelo nurtured a great platonic love for the poet and noble widow Vittoria Colonna
Vittoria Colonna (April 149225 February 1547), marchioness of Pescara, was an Italian noblewoman and poet. As an educated, married noblewoman whose husband was in captivity, Colonna was able to develop relationships within the intellectual circl ...
, whom he met in Rome in 1536 or 1538 and who was in her late forties at the time. They wrote sonnets for each other and were in regular contact until she died. These sonnets mostly deal with the spiritual issues that occupied them. Condivi recalls Michelangelo's saying that his sole regret in life was that he did not kiss the widow's face in the same manner that he had her hand.
Feuds with other artists
In a letter from late 1542, Michelangelo blamed the tensions between Julius II and himself on the envy of Bramante and Raphael
Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino, better known as Raphael (; or ; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. List of works by Raphael, His work is admired for its clarity of form, ease of ...
, saying of the latter, "all he had in art, he got from me". According to Gian Paolo Lomazzo
Gian Paolo Lomazzo (26 April 1538 – 27 January 1592; his first name is sometimes also given as "Giovan" or "Giovanni") was an Italian artist and writer on art. Praised as a painter, Lomazzo wrote about artistic practice and art theory after ...
, Michelangelo and Raphael met once: the former was alone, while the latter was accompanied by several others. Michelangelo commented that he thought he had encountered the chief of police with such an assemblage, and Raphael replied that he thought he had met an executioner, as they are wont to walk alone.
Works
Madonna and Child
The ''Madonna of the Stairs
The ''Madonna of the Stairs'' (or ''Madonna of the Steps'') is a relief sculpture by Michelangelo in the Casa Buonarroti, Florence. It was sculpted around 1490, when Michelangelo was about fifteen. This and the ''Battle of the Centaurs (Michelange ...
'' is Michelangelo's earliest known work in marble. It is carved in shallow relief, a technique often employed by the master-sculptor of the early 15th century, Donatello, and others such as Desiderio da Settignano
Desiderio da Settignano, real name Desiderio de Bartolomeo di Francesco detto Ferro ( 1428 or 1430 – 1464) was an Italian Renaissance sculptor active in north Italy.
Biography
He came from a family of stone carvers and stonemasons in Settigna ...
. While the Madonna is in profile, the easiest aspect for a shallow relief, the child displays a twisting motion that was to become characteristic of Michelangelo's work. The ''Taddei Tondo
The ''Taddei Tondo'' or ''The Virgin and Child with the Infant St John'' is a marble relief tondo (circular composition) of the Madonna and Child and the infant Saint John the Baptist, by the Italian Renaissance artist Michelangelo Buonarroti. ...
'' of 1502 shows the Christ Child frightened by a Bullfinch
Bullfinch is a name given to two groups of passerine birds.
True bullfinches
The true bullfinches are thick-billed finches in the passerine family Fringillidae. They comprise the genus ''Pyrrhula''. These birds are restricted to the Old World, an ...
, a symbol of the Crucifixion. The lively form of the child was later adapted by Raphael in the '' Bridgewater Madonna''. The ''Madonna of Bruges
The ''Madonna of Bruges'' is a marble sculpture by Michelangelo of the Virgin and Child.
Michelangelo's depiction of the ''Madonna and Child'' differs significantly from earlier representations of the same subject, which tended to feature a piou ...
'' was, at the time of its creation, unlike other such statues depicting the Virgin proudly presenting her son. Here, the Christ Child, restrained by his mother's clasping hand, is about to step off into the world. The ''Doni Tondo
The ''Doni Tondo'' or ''Doni Madonna'', is the only finished panel painting by the mature Michelangelo to survive. (Two other panel paintings, generally agreed to be by Michelangelo but unfinished, ''The Entombment'' and the so-called '' Manche ...
'', depicting the Holy Family
The Holy Family consists of the Child Jesus, the Virgin Mary and Saint Joseph. The subject became popular in art from the 1490s on, but veneration of the Holy Family was formally begun in the 17th century by Saint François de Laval, the first ...
, has elements of all three previous works: the frieze of figures in the background has the appearance of a low-relief, while the circular shape and dynamic forms echo the Taddeo Tondo. The twisting motion present in the ''Madonna of Bruges'' is accentuated in the painting. The painting heralds the forms, movement and colour that Michelangelo was to employ on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel.
File:Michelangelo, madonna della scala, 1491 ca, 01.JPG, The ''Madonna of the Stairs
The ''Madonna of the Stairs'' (or ''Madonna of the Steps'') is a relief sculpture by Michelangelo in the Casa Buonarroti, Florence. It was sculpted around 1490, when Michelangelo was about fifteen. This and the ''Battle of the Centaurs (Michelange ...
'' (1490–1492)
File:Taddei Tondo.JPG, The ''Taddei Tondo
The ''Taddei Tondo'' or ''The Virgin and Child with the Infant St John'' is a marble relief tondo (circular composition) of the Madonna and Child and the infant Saint John the Baptist, by the Italian Renaissance artist Michelangelo Buonarroti. ...
'' (1502)
File:Madonna michelangelo1.jpg, ''Madonna of Bruges
The ''Madonna of Bruges'' is a marble sculpture by Michelangelo of the Virgin and Child.
Michelangelo's depiction of the ''Madonna and Child'' differs significantly from earlier representations of the same subject, which tended to feature a piou ...
'' (1504)
File:Tondo Doni, por Miguel Ángel.jpg, The ''Doni Tondo
The ''Doni Tondo'' or ''Doni Madonna'', is the only finished panel painting by the mature Michelangelo to survive. (Two other panel paintings, generally agreed to be by Michelangelo but unfinished, ''The Entombment'' and the so-called '' Manche ...
'' (1504–1506)
Male figure
The kneeling ''Angel
In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God.
Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles include ...
'' is an early work, one of several that Michelangelo created as part of a large decorative scheme for the Arca di San Domenico
The Arca di San Domenico (Ark of Saint Dominic) is a monument containing the remains of Saint Dominic. It is located in Dominic’s Chapel in the Basilica of San Domenico in Bologna, Italy.
History
The elaboration of this artistic masterpiece ...
in the church dedicated to that saint in Bologna. Several other artists had worked on the scheme, beginning with Nicola Pisano
Nicola Pisano (also called ''Niccolò Pisano'', ''Nicola de Apulia'' or ''Nicola Pisanus''; c. 1220/1225 – c. 1284) was an Italian sculptor whose work is noted for its classical Roman sculptural style. Pisano is sometimes considered to be the ...
in the 13th century. In the late 15th century, the project was managed by Niccolò dell'Arca
Niccolò dell’Arca (c. 1435-1440 – 2 March 1494) was an Italian Early Renaissance sculptor, who worked mostly in terracotta. He is also known under the names Niccolò da Ragusa, Niccolò da Bari and Niccolò d'Antonio d'Apulia. The s ...
. An angel holding a candlestick, by Niccolò, was already in place.[Goldscheider, p. 9] Although the two angels form a pair, there is a great contrast between the two works, the one depicting a delicate child with flowing hair clothed in Gothic robes with deep folds, and Michelangelo's depicting a robust and muscular youth with eagle's wings, clad in a garment of Classical style. Everything about Michelangelo's ''Angel'' is dynamic. Michelangelo's ''Bacchus
In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, myth, Dionysus (; grc, wikt:Διόνυσος, Διόνυσος ) is the god of the grape-harvest, winemaking, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstas ...
'' was a commission with a specified subject, the youthful God of Wine. The sculpture has all the traditional attributes, a vine wreath, a cup of wine and a fawn, but Michelangelo ingested an air of reality into the subject, depicting him with bleary eyes, a swollen bladder and a stance that suggests he is unsteady on his feet.[ While the work is plainly inspired by Classical sculpture, it is innovative for its rotating movement and strongly three-dimensional quality, which encourages the viewer to look at it from every angle.
In the so-called '']Dying Slave
The ''Dying Slave'' is a sculpture by the Italian Renaissance artist Michelangelo. Created between 1513 and 1516, it was to serve with another figure, the ''Rebellious Slave'', at the tomb of Pope Julius II. It is a marble figure 2.15 metres (7' ...
'', Michelangelo again utilised the figure with marked contrapposto
''Contrapposto'' () is an Italian term that means "counterpoise". It is used in the visual arts to describe a human figure standing with most of its weight on one foot, so that its shoulders and arms twist off-axis from the hips and legs in the a ...
to suggest a particular human state, in this case waking from sleep. With the ''Rebellious Slave
The ''Rebellious Slave'' is a 2.15m high marble statue by Michelangelo, dated to 1513. It is now held in the Louvre in Paris.
History
The two "slaves" of the Louvre date to the second version of the tomb of Pope Julius II which was commissio ...
'', it is one of two such earlier figures for the Tomb of Pope Julius II
The Tomb of Pope Julius II is a sculptural and architectural ensemble by Michelangelo and his assistants, originally commissioned in 1505 but not completed until 1545 on a much reduced scale. Originally intended for St. Peter's Basilica, the str ...
, now in the Louvre, that the sculptor brought to an almost finished state. These two works were to have a profound influence on later sculpture, through Rodin
François Auguste René Rodin (12 November 184017 November 1917) was a French sculptor, generally considered the founder of modern sculpture. He was schooled traditionally and took a craftsman-like approach to his work. Rodin possessed a uniqu ...
who studied them at the Louvre
The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...
.
The ''Atlas Slave
The ''Atlas Slave'' is a 2.77m high marble statue by Michelangelo, dated to 1525–1530. It is one of the 'Prisoners', the series of unfinished sculptures for the tomb of Pope Julius II. It is now held in the Galleria dell'Accademia in Florence ...
'' is one of the later figures for Pope Julius' tomb. The works, known collectively as ''The Captives'', each show the figure struggling to free itself, as if from the bonds of the rock in which it is lodged. The works give a unique insight into the sculptural methods that Michelangelo employed and his way of revealing what he perceived within the rock.
File:Autori vari, arca di san domenico, angelo reggicandelabro di michelangelo, 1494, 02.jpg, ''Angel
In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God.
Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles include ...
'' by Michelangelo, early work (1494–95)
File:Michelangelo Bacchus.jpg, ''Bacchus
In ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, myth, Dionysus (; grc, wikt:Διόνυσος, Διόνυσος ) is the god of the grape-harvest, winemaking, orchards and fruit, vegetation, fertility, insanity, ritual madness, religious ecstas ...
'' by Michelangelo, early work (1496–1497)
File:'Dying Slave' Michelangelo JBU001.jpg, ''Dying Slave
The ''Dying Slave'' is a sculpture by the Italian Renaissance artist Michelangelo. Created between 1513 and 1516, it was to serve with another figure, the ''Rebellious Slave'', at the tomb of Pope Julius II. It is a marble figure 2.15 metres (7' ...
'', Louvre
The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...
(1513)
File:Michelangelo - Atlas.jpg, ''Atlas Slave
The ''Atlas Slave'' is a 2.77m high marble statue by Michelangelo, dated to 1525–1530. It is one of the 'Prisoners', the series of unfinished sculptures for the tomb of Pope Julius II. It is now held in the Galleria dell'Accademia in Florence ...
'' (1530–1534)
Sistine Chapel ceiling
The Sistine Chapel ceiling was painted between 1508 and 1512. The ceiling is a flattened barrel vault
A barrel vault, also known as a tunnel vault, wagon vault or wagonhead vault, is an architectural element formed by the extrusion of a single curve (or pair of curves, in the case of a pointed barrel vault) along a given distance. The curves are ...
supported on twelve triangular pendentive
In architecture, a pendentive is a constructional device permitting the placing of a circular dome over a square room or of an elliptical dome over a rectangular room. The pendentives, which are triangular segments of a sphere, taper to points ...
s that rise from between the windows of the chapel. The commission, as envisaged by Pope Julius II
Pope Julius II ( la, Iulius II; it, Giulio II; born Giuliano della Rovere; 5 December 144321 February 1513) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 1503 to his death in February 1513. Nicknamed the Warrior Pope or th ...
, was to adorn the pendentives with figures of the twelve apostles. Michelangelo, who was reluctant to take the job, persuaded the Pope to give him a free hand in the composition.[ The resultant scheme of decoration awed his contemporaries and has inspired other artists ever since. The scheme is of nine panels illustrating episodes from the ]Book of Genesis
The Book of Genesis (from Greek ; Hebrew: בְּרֵאשִׁית ''Bəreʾšīt'', "In hebeginning") is the first book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. Its Hebrew name is the same as its first word, ( "In the beginning") ...
, set in an architectonic frame. On the pendentives, Michelangelo replaced the proposed Apostles with Prophets and Sibyls who heralded the coming of the Messiah
In Abrahamic religions, a messiah or messias (; ,
; ,
; ) is a saviour or liberator of a group of people. The concepts of ''mashiach'', messianism, and of a Messianic Age originated in Judaism, and in the Hebrew Bible, in which a ''mashiach'' ...
.[Paoletti and Radke, pp. 402–03]
Michelangelo began painting with the later episodes in the narrative, the pictures including locational details and groups of figures, the ''Drunkenness of Noah'' being the first of this group.[ In the later compositions, painted after the initial scaffolding had been removed, Michelangelo made the figures larger.][ One of the central images, '']The Creation of Adam
'' Creation of Adam'' () is a fresco painting by Italian artist Michelangelo, which forms part of the Sistine Chapel's ceiling, painted c. 1508–1512. It illustrates the Biblical creation narrative from the Book of Genesis in which God gives li ...
'' is one of the best known and most reproduced works in the history of art. The final panel, showing the ''Separation of Light from Darkness
The ''Separation of Light from Darkness'' is, from the perspective of the Genesis chronology, the first of nine central panels that run along the center of Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel ceiling and which depict scenes from the Book of Genesis. Mic ...
'' is the broadest in style and was painted in a single day. As the model for the Creator, Michelangelo has depicted himself in the action of painting the ceiling.[
File:Ivresse de noe.jpg, ''The Drunkenness of Noah''
File:Michelangelo, Deluge 02.jpg, ''The Deluge'' (detail)
File:The Creation of Adam.jpg, '']The Creation of Adam
'' Creation of Adam'' () is a fresco painting by Italian artist Michelangelo, which forms part of the Sistine Chapel's ceiling, painted c. 1508–1512. It illustrates the Biblical creation narrative from the Book of Genesis in which God gives li ...
'' (1510)
File:First Day of Creation.jpg, ''The First Day of Creation''
As supporters to the smaller scenes, Michelangelo painted twenty youths who have variously been interpreted as angels, as muses, or simply as decoration. Michelangelo referred to them as "ignudi". The figure reproduced may be seen in context in the above image of the ''Separation of Light from Darkness''.
In the process of painting the ceiling, Michelangelo made studies for different figures, of which some, such as that for ''The Libyan Sibyl'' have survived, demonstrating the care taken by Michelangelo in details such as the hands and feet. The Prophet Jeremiah
Jeremiah, Modern: , Tiberian: ; el, Ἰερεμίας, Ieremíās; meaning " Yah shall raise" (c. 650 – c. 570 BC), also called Jeremias or the "weeping prophet", was one of the major prophets of the Hebrew Bible. According to Jewish ...
, contemplating the downfall of Jerusalem, is an image of the artist himself.
File:Michelangelo libyan.jpg, Studies for ''The Libyan Sibyl''
File:Michelangelo the libyan.jpg, ''The Libyan Sibyl'' (1511)
File:Michelangelo Buonarroti 027.jpg, ''The Prophet Jeremiah'' (1511)
File:'Ignudo' by Michelangelo JBU33.jpg, ''Ignudo''
Figure compositions
Michelangelo's relief of the ''Battle of the Centaurs
A centaur ( ; grc, κένταυρος, kéntauros; ), or occasionally hippocentaur, is a creature from Greek mythology with the upper body of a human and the lower body and legs of a horse.
Centaurs are thought of in many Greek myths as being ...
'', created while he was still a youth associated with the Medici Academy, is an unusually complex relief in that it shows a great number of figures involved in a vigorous struggle. Such a complex disarray of figures was rare in Florentine art, where it would usually only be found in images showing either the Massacre of the Innocents or the Torments of Hell. The relief treatment, in which some of the figures are boldly projecting, may indicate Michelangelo's familiarity with Roman sarcophagus
A sarcophagus (plural sarcophagi or sarcophaguses) is a box-like funeral receptacle for a corpse, most commonly carved in stone, and usually displayed above ground, though it may also be buried. The word ''sarcophagus'' comes from the Greek ...
reliefs from the collection of Lorenzo Medici, and similar marble panels created by Nicola and Giovanni Pisano
Giovanni Pisano (c. 1250 – c. 1315) was an Italian sculptor, painter and architect, who worked in the cities of Pisa, Siena and Pistoia. He is best known for his sculpture which shows the influence of both the French Gothic and the Ancient Rom ...
, and with the figurative compositions on Ghiberti
Lorenzo Ghiberti (, , ; 1378 – 1 December 1455), born Lorenzo di Bartolo, was an Italian Renaissance sculptor from Florence, a key figure in the Early Renaissance, best known as the creator of two sets of bronze doors of the Florence Baptistery ...
's Baptistry Doors
The Florence Baptistery, also known as the Baptistery of Saint John ( it, Battistero di San Giovanni), is a religious building in Florence, Italy, and has the status of a minor basilica. The octagonal baptistery stands in both the Piazza del ...
.
The composition of the ''Battle of Cascina'' is known in its entirety only from copies, as the original cartoon, according to Vasari, was so admired that it deteriorated and was eventually in pieces.[ It reflects the earlier relief in the energy and diversity of the figures, with many different postures, and many being viewed from the back, as they turn towards the approaching enemy and prepare for battle.
In ''The Last Judgment'' it is said that Michelangelo drew ]inspiration
Inspiration, inspire, or inspired often refers to:
* Artistic inspiration, sudden creativity in artistic production
* Biblical inspiration, the doctrine in Judeo-Christian theology concerned with the divine origin of the Bible
* Creative inspirat ...
from a fresco by Melozzo da Forlì
Melozzo da Forlì (c. 1438 – 8 November 1494) was an Italian Renaissance painter and architect. His fresco paintings are notable for the use of foreshortening. He was the most important member of the Forlì painting school.
Biography
M ...
in Rome's Santi Apostoli. Melozzo had depicted figures from different angles, as if they were floating in the Heaven and seen from below. Melozzo's majestic figure of Christ, with windblown cloak, demonstrates a degree of foreshortening of the figure that had also been employed by Andrea Mantegna
Andrea Mantegna (, , ; September 13, 1506) was an Italian painter, a student of Roman archeology, and son-in-law of Jacopo Bellini.
Like other artists of the time, Mantegna experimented with perspective, e.g. by lowering the horizon in order ...
, but was not usual in the frescos of Florentine painters. In ''The Last Judgment'' Michelangelo had the opportunity to depict, on an unprecedented scale, figures in the action of either rising heavenward or falling and being dragged down.
In the two frescos of the Pauline Chapel, ''The Crucifixion of St. Peter'' and ''The Conversion of Saul'', Michelangelo has used the various groups of figures to convey a complex narrative. In the ''Crucifixion of Peter'' soldiers busy themselves about their assigned duty of digging a post hole and raising the cross while various people look on and discuss the events. A group of horrified women cluster in the foreground, while another group of Christians is led by a tall man to witness the events. In the right foreground, Michelangelo walks out of the painting with an expression of disillusionment.
File:Michelangelo, centauromachia, 1492 ca. 01 crop.JPG, ''Battle of the Centaurs
A centaur ( ; grc, κένταυρος, kéntauros; ), or occasionally hippocentaur, is a creature from Greek mythology with the upper body of a human and the lower body and legs of a horse.
Centaurs are thought of in many Greek myths as being ...
'' (1492)
File:La batalla de Cascina - Sangallo.jpg, Copy of the lost ''Battle of Cascina
The Battle of Cascina was an engagement between Pisan and Florentine troops on 28 July 1364 near Cascina, modern-day Italy. Florence's victory followed a recent defeat to Pisan forces that had enabled mercenary John Hawkwood, who was in comman ...
'' by Bastiano da Sangallo
Bastiano da Sangallo (1481May 31, 1551) was an Italian sculptor, painter and architect of the Renaissance period, active mainly in Tuscany. He was a nephew of Giuliano da Sangallo and Antonio da Sangallo the Elder. He is usually known as Aristotil ...
File:Michelangelo, giudizio universale, dettagli 33.jpg, ''The Last Judgment
The Last Judgment, Final Judgment, Day of Reckoning, Day of Judgment, Judgment Day, Doomsday, Day of Resurrection or The Day of the Lord (; ar, یوم القيامة, translit=Yawm al-Qiyāmah or ar, یوم الدین, translit=Yawm ad-Dīn, ...
'', detail of the Redeemed. (see whole image above)
File:Michelangelo, paolina, martirio di san pietro 01.jpg, '' The Crucifixion of St. Peter''
Architecture
Michelangelo's architectural commissions included a number that were not realised, notably the façade for Brunelleschi's Church of San Lorenzo in Florence, for which Michelangelo had a wooden model constructed, but which remains to this day unfinished rough brick. At the same church, Giulio de' Medici (later Pope Clement VII) commissioned him to design the Medici Chapel and the tombs of Giuliano and Lorenzo Medici. Pope Clement also commissioned the Laurentian Library, for which Michelangelo also designed the extraordinary vestibule with columns recessed into niches, and a staircase that appears to spill out of the library like a flow of lava, according to Nikolaus Pevsner
Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner (30 January 1902 – 18 August 1983) was a German-British art historian and architectural historian best known for his monumental 46-volume series of county-by-county guides, ''The Buildings of England'' (1 ...
, "... revealing Mannerism
Mannerism, which may also be known as Late Renaissance, is a style in European art that emerged in the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520, spreading by about 1530 and lasting until about the end of the 16th century in Italy, ...
in its most sublime architectural form."
In 1546 Michelangelo produced the highly complex ovoid design for the pavement of the Campidoglio
The Capitolium or Capitoline Hill ( ; it, Campidoglio ; la, Mons Capitolinus ), between the Forum and the Campus Martius, is one of the Seven Hills of Rome.
The hill was earlier known as ''Mons Saturnius'', dedicated to the god Saturn. ...
and began designing an upper storey for the Farnese Palace
Palazzo Farnese () or Farnese Palace is one of the most important High Renaissance palaces in Rome. Owned by the Italian Republic, it was given to the French government in 1936 for a period of 99 years, and currently serves as the French emb ...
. In 1547 he took on the job of completing St Peter's Basilica, begun to a design by Bramante, and with several intermediate designs by several architects. Michelangelo returned to Bramante's design, retaining the basic form and concepts by simplifying and strengthening the design to create a more dynamic and unified whole.[Gardner] Although the late 16th-century engraving depicts the dome as having a hemispherical profile, the dome of Michelangelo's model is somewhat ovoid and the final product, as completed by Giacomo della Porta
Giacomo della Porta (1532–1602) was an Italian architect and sculptor, who worked on many important buildings in Rome, including St. Peter's Basilica. He was born at Porlezza, Lombardy and died in Rome.
Biography
Giacomo Della Porta was b ...
, is more so.
File:Laurentian Library vestibule.jpg, The vestibule of the Laurentian Library
The Laurentian Library (Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana or BML) is a historic library in Florence, Italy, containing more than 11,000 manuscripts and 4,500 early printed books. Built in a cloister of the Medicean Basilica di San Lorenzo di Firenze ...
has Mannerist
Mannerism, which may also be known as Late Renaissance, is a style in European art that emerged in the later years of the Italian High Renaissance around 1520, spreading by about 1530 and lasting until about the end of the 16th century in Italy, ...
features which challenge the Classical order of Brunelleschi's adjacent church.
File:View of the Campidoglio as re-designed by Michelangelo from the 'Speculum Romanae Magnificentiae' MET DP844272.jpg, Michelangelo's redesign of the ancient Capitoline Hill
The Capitolium or Capitoline Hill ( ; it, Campidoglio ; la, Mons Capitolinus ), between the Forum and the Campus Martius, is one of the Seven Hills of Rome.
The hill was earlier known as ''Mons Saturnius'', dedicated to the god Saturn. Th ...
included a complex spiralling pavement with a star at its centre.
File:L’Architecture de la Renaissance - Fig. 13.PNG, Michelangelo's design for St Peter's is both massive and contained, with the corners between the apsidal
In architecture, an apse (plural apses; from Latin 'arch, vault' from Ancient Greek 'arch'; sometimes written apsis, plural apsides) is a semicircular recess covered with a hemispherical vault or semi-dome, also known as an ''exedra''. In ...
arms of the Greek Cross filled by square projections.
File:Speculum Romanae Magnificentiae- Elevation Showing the Exterior of Saint Peter's Basilica from the South as Conceived by Michelagelo (Published in 1569) MET DT203424.jpg, The exterior is surrounded by a giant order
In classical architecture, a giant order, also known as colossal order, is an order whose columns or pilasters span two (or more) storeys. At the same time, smaller orders may feature in arcades or window and door framings within the storeys th ...
of pilasters supporting a continuous cornice. Four small cupolas cluster around the dome.
File:Palazzo Farnese Windwon Michelangelo Metropolitan Museum.jpeg, Design for a window in the Palazzo Farnese
Palazzo Farnese () or Farnese Palace is one of the most important High Renaissance List of palaces in Italy#Rome, palaces in Rome. Owned by the Italian Republic, it was given to the French government in 1936 for a period of 99 years, and cur ...
.
File:Michelangelo Second design for wall tomb for Julius II.jpg, Second design for wall tomb of Pope Julius II
Pope Julius II ( la, Iulius II; it, Giulio II; born Giuliano della Rovere; 5 December 144321 February 1513) was head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 1503 to his death in February 1513. Nicknamed the Warrior Pope or th ...
Final years
In his old age, Michelangelo created a number of ''Pietàs'' in which he apparently reflects upon mortality. They are heralded by the ''Victory'', perhaps created for the tomb of Pope Julius II but left unfinished. In this group, the youthful victor overcomes an older hooded figure, with the features of Michelangelo.
The ''Pietà of Vittoria Colonna'' is a chalk drawing of a type described as "presentation drawings", as they might be given as a gift by an artist, and were not necessarily studies towards a painted work. In this image, Mary's upraised arms and hands are indicative of her prophetic role. The frontal aspect is reminiscent of Masaccio
Masaccio (, , ; December 21, 1401 – summer 1428), born Tommaso di Ser Giovanni di Simone, was a Florentine artist who is regarded as the first great Italian painter of the Quattrocento period of the Italian Renaissance. According to Vasari, ...
's fresco of the Holy Trinity
The Christian doctrine of the Trinity (, from 'threefold') is the central dogma concerning the nature of God in most Christian churches, which defines one God existing in three coequal, coeternal, consubstantial divine persons: God the F ...
in the Basilica of Santa Maria Novella
Santa Maria Novella is a church in Florence, Italy, situated opposite, and lending its name to, the city's main railway station. Chronologically, it is the first great basilica in Florence, and is the city's principal Dominican church.
The chu ...
, Florence.
In the ''Florentine Pietà'', Michelangelo again depicts himself, this time as the aged Nicodemus
Nicodemus (; grc-gre, Νικόδημος, Nikódēmos) was a Pharisee and a member of the Sanhedrin mentioned in three places in the Gospel of John:
* He first visits Jesus one night to discuss Jesus' teachings ().
* The second time Nicodem ...
lowering the body of Jesus from the cross into the arms of Mary his mother and Mary Magdalene. Michelangelo smashed the left arm and leg of the figure of Jesus. His pupil Tiberio Calcagni
Tiberio Calcagni (1532–1565) was an Italian sculptor and architect.
He was born in Florence, and accompanied Michelangelo
Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (; 6 March 1475 – 18 February 1564), known as Michelangelo (), was ...
repaired the arm and drilled a hole in which to fix a replacement leg which was not subsequently attached. He also worked on the figure of Mary Magdalene.
The last sculpture that Michelangelo worked on (six days before his death), the ''Rondanini Pietà
The ''Rondanini Pietà'' is a marble sculpture that Michelangelo worked on from 1552 until the last days of his life, in 1564. Several sources indicate that there were actually three versions, with this one being the last. The name Rondanini ref ...
'' could never be completed because Michelangelo carved it away until there was insufficient stone. The legs and a detached arm remain from a previous stage of the work. As it remains, the sculpture has an abstract quality, in keeping with 20th-century concepts of sculpture.
Michelangelo died in Rome in 1564, at the age of 88 (three weeks before his 89th birthday). His body was taken from Rome for interment at the Basilica of Santa Croce
The (Italian for 'Basilica of the Holy Cross') is the principal Franciscan church in Florence, Italy, and a minor basilica of the Roman Catholic Church. It is situated on the Piazza di Santa Croce, about 800 meters south-east of the Duomo. The ...
, fulfilling the maestro's last request to be buried in his beloved Florence
Florence ( ; it, Firenze ) is a city in Central Italy and the capital city of the Tuscany region. It is the most populated city in Tuscany, with 383,083 inhabitants in 2016, and over 1,520,000 in its metropolitan area.Bilancio demografico an ...
.
Michelangelo's heir Lionardo Buonarroti commissioned Giorgio Vasari
Giorgio Vasari (, also , ; 30 July 1511 – 27 June 1574) was an Italian Renaissance Master, who worked as a painter, architect, engineer, writer, and historian, who is best known for his work ''The Lives of the Most Excellent Painters, Sculpt ...
to design and build the ''Tomb of Michelangelo'', a monumental project that cost 770 scudi
The ''scudo'' (pl. ''scudi'') was the name for a number of coins used in various states in the Italian peninsula until the 19th century. The name, like that of the French écu and the Spanish and Portuguese escudo, was derived from the Latin ''scu ...
, and took over 14 years to complete. Marble for the tomb was supplied by Cosimo I de' Medici
Cosimo I de' Medici (12 June 1519 – 21 April 1574) was the second Duke of Florence from 1537 until 1569, when he became the first Grand Duke of Tuscany, a title he held until his death.
Life
Rise to power
Cosimo was born in Florence on 12 ...
, Duke of Tuscany who had also organized a state funeral to honour Michelangelo in Florence.
File:Pieta Bandini Opera Duomo Florence n01.jpg, Self-portrait of the artist as Nicodemus
Nicodemus (; grc-gre, Νικόδημος, Nikódēmos) was a Pharisee and a member of the Sanhedrin mentioned in three places in the Gospel of John:
* He first visits Jesus one night to discuss Jesus' teachings ().
* The second time Nicodem ...
File:Firenze.Palvecchio.500.Michelangelo2.JPG, ''Statue of Victory'' (1534), Palazzo Vecchio, Florence
File:Pietà per Vittoria Colonna.jpg, The ''Pietà of Vittoria Colonna'' (c. 1540)
File:Michelangelo pietà rondanini.jpg, The ''Rondanini Pietà
The ''Rondanini Pietà'' is a marble sculpture that Michelangelo worked on from 1552 until the last days of his life, in 1564. Several sources indicate that there were actually three versions, with this one being the last. The name Rondanini ref ...
'' (1552–1564)
Legacy
Michelangelo, with Leonardo da Vinci and Raphael, is one of the three giants of the Florentine High Renaissance
In art history, the High Renaissance was a short period of the most exceptional artistic production in the Italian states, particularly Rome, capital of the Papal States, and in Florence, during the Italian Renaissance. Most art historians stat ...
. Although their names are often cited together, Michelangelo was younger than Leonardo by 23 years, and older than Raphael by eight. Because of his reclusive nature, he had little to do with either artist and outlived both of them by more than forty years. Michelangelo took few sculpture students. He employed Francesco Granacci
Francesco Granacci (1469 – 30 November 1543) was an Italian Renaissance painter active primarily in his native Florence. Though little-known today, he was regarded in his time and is featured in Giorgio Vasari's ''Lives of the Artists''.
...
, who was his fellow pupil at the Medici Academy, and became one of several assistants on the Sistine Chapel ceiling.[ Michelangelo appears to have used assistants mainly for the more manual tasks of preparing surfaces and grinding colours. Despite this, his works were to have a great influence on painters, sculptors and architects for many generations to come.
While Michelangelo's ''David'' is the most famous male nude of all time and now graces cities around the world, some of his other works have had perhaps even greater impact on the course of art. The twisting forms and tensions of the ''Victory'', the ''Bruges Madonna'' and the ''Medici Madonna'' make them the heralds of the Mannerist art. The unfinished giants for the tomb of Pope Julius II had profound effect on late-19th- and 20th-century sculptors such as ]Rodin
François Auguste René Rodin (12 November 184017 November 1917) was a French sculptor, generally considered the founder of modern sculpture. He was schooled traditionally and took a craftsman-like approach to his work. Rodin possessed a uniqu ...
and Henry Moore
Henry Spencer Moore (30 July 1898 – 31 August 1986) was an English artist. He is best known for his semi- abstract monumental bronze sculptures which are located around the world as public works of art. As well as sculpture, Moore produced ...
.
Michelangelo's foyer of the Laurentian Library was one of the earliest buildings to utilise Classical forms in a plastic and expressive manner. This dynamic quality was later to find its major expression in Michelangelo's centrally planned St Peter's, with its giant order
In classical architecture, a giant order, also known as colossal order, is an order whose columns or pilasters span two (or more) storeys. At the same time, smaller orders may feature in arcades or window and door framings within the storeys th ...
, its rippling cornice and its upward-launching pointed dome. The dome of St Peter's was to influence the building of churches for many centuries, including Sant'Andrea della Valle
Sant'Andrea della Valle is a minor basilica in the rione of Sant'Eustachio of the city of Rome, Italy. The basilica is the general seat for the religious order of the Theatines. It is located at Piazza Vidoni, at the intersection of Corso Vittori ...
in Rome and St Paul's Cathedral
St Paul's Cathedral is an Anglican cathedral in London and is the seat of the Bishop of London. The cathedral serves as the mother church of the Diocese of London. It is on Ludgate Hill at the highest point of the City of London and is a Grad ...
, London, as well as the civic domes of many public buildings and the state capitals across America.
Artists who were directly influenced by Michelangelo include Raphael, whose monumental treatment of the figure in the ''School of Athens
A school is an educational institution designed to provide learning spaces and learning environments for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is sometimes compulsor ...
'' and ''The Expulsion of Heliodorus from the Temple
''The Expulsion of Heliodorus from the Temple'' is a fresco of the Italian renaissance painter Raphael. It was painted between 1511 and 1512 as part of Raphael's commission to decorate with frescoes the rooms that are now known as the Stanze di ...
'' owes much to Michelangelo, and whose fresco of ''Isaiah
Isaiah ( or ; he, , ''Yəšaʿyāhū'', "God is Salvation"), also known as Isaias, was the 8th-century BC Israelite prophet after whom the Book of Isaiah is named.
Within the text of the Book of Isaiah, Isaiah himself is referred to as "the ...
'' in Sant'Agostino closely imitates the older master's prophets. Other artists, such as Pontormo
Jacopo Carucci (May 24, 1494 – January 2, 1557), usually known as ''Jacopo da Pontormo'', ''Jacopo Pontormo'', or simply Pontormo, was an Italian Mannerism, Mannerist painter and portraitist from the Florentine School. His work represents a pr ...
, drew on the writhing forms of the ''Last Judgment'' and the frescoes of the Capella Paolina.
The Sistine Chapel ceiling was a work of unprecedented grandeur, both for its architectonic forms, to be imitated by many Baroque
The Baroque (, ; ) is a style of architecture, music, dance, painting, sculpture, poetry, and other arts that flourished in Europe from the early 17th century until the 1750s. In the territories of the Spanish and Portuguese empires including t ...
ceiling painters, and also for the wealth of its inventiveness in the study of figures. Vasari wrote:
In popular culture
;Movies
*'' Vita di Michelangelo'' (1964)
*'' The Agony and the Ecstasy'' (1965), directed by Carol Reed
Sir Carol Reed (30 December 1906 – 25 April 1976) was an English film director and producer, best known for ''Odd Man Out'' (1947), '' The Fallen Idol'' (1948), ''The Third Man'' (1949), and '' Oliver!'' (1968), for which he was awarded the ...
and starring Charlton Heston
Charlton Heston (born John Charles Carter; October 4, 1923April 5, 2008) was an American actor and political activist.
As a Hollywood star, he appeared in almost 100 films over the course of 60 years. He played Moses in the epic film ''The Ten C ...
as Michelangelo
*''A Season of Giants
''A Season of Giants'' ( it, La primavera di Michelangelo, also known as ''Michelangelo: The Last Giant'') is a 1990 American-Italian biographical drama television film directed by Jerry London. Based on the Vincenzo Labella's book ''Una stagion ...
'' (1990)
*'' Michelangelo - Endless'' (2018), starring Enrico Lo Verso
Enrico Lo Verso (born 18 January 1964) is an Italian actor.
He studied acting at Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia and ''INDA, Istituto Nazionale del Dramma Antico''.
Filmography
* ''Atto di dolore'' (1990)
* '' A Season of Giants'' (1990) ...
as Michelangelo
*''Sin
In a religious context, sin is a transgression against divine law. Each culture has its own interpretation of what it means to commit a sin. While sins are generally considered actions, any thought, word, or act considered immoral, selfish, s ...
'' (2019), directed by Andrei Konchalovsky
Andrei Sergeyevich Mikhalkov-Konchalovsky (russian: link=no, Андрей Сергеевич Михалков-Кончаловский; born 20 August 1937) is a Russian filmmaker. He has worked in Soviet, Hollywood, and contemporary Russian ...
See also
* Michelangelo and the Medici
Michelangelo (6 March 1475 – 18 February 1564) had a complicated relationship with the Medici family, who were for most of his lifetime the effective rulers of his home city of Florence. The Medici rose to prominence as Florence's preeminent b ...
* Italian Renaissance sculpture
Italian Renaissance sculpture was an important part of the art of the Italian Renaissance, in the early stages arguably representing the leading edge. The example of Ancient Roman sculpture hung very heavily over it, both in terms of style and t ...
* Italian Renaissance painting
Italian Renaissance painting is the painting of the period beginning in the late 13th century and flourishing from the early 15th to late 16th centuries, occurring in the Italian Peninsula, which was at that time divided into many political stat ...
* Michelangelo phenomenon
The Michelangelo phenomenon is an interpersonal process observed by psychologists in which close, romantic partners influence or 'sculpt' each other. Over time, the Michelangelo effect causes individuals to develop towards what they consider the ...
* Nicodemite
A Nicodemite () is a person suspected of publicly misrepresenting their religious faith to conceal their true beliefs. The term is sometimes defined as referring to a Protestant Christian who lived in a Roman Catholic country and escaped persecuti ...
* Restoration of the Sistine Chapel frescoes
The conservation-restoration of the frescoes of the Sistine Chapel was one of the most significant conservation-restorations of the 20th century.
The Sistine Chapel was built by Pope Sixtus IV within the Vatican immediately to the north of St ...
Footnotes
:a. Michelangelo's father marks the date as 6 March 1474 in the Florentine manner ''ab Incarnatione''. However, in the Roman manner, ''ab Nativitate'', it is 1475.
:b. Sources disagree as to how old Michelangelo was when he departed for school. De Tolnay writes that it was at ten years old while Sedgwick notes in her translation of Condivi that Michelangelo was seven.
:c. The Strozzi family
The House of Strozzi is the name of an ancient (later noble) Florentine family, who like their great rivals the Medici family, began in banking before moving into politics. Until its exile from Florence in 1434, the Strozzi family was by far the ...
acquired the sculpture ''Hercules''. Filippo Strozzi
Filippo is an Italian language, Italian male given name, which is the equivalent of the English language, English name Philip (name), Philip, from the Greek language, Greek ''Philippos'', meaning "amante dei cavalli".''Behind the Name''"Given Name ...
sold it to Francis I Francis I or Francis the First may refer to:
* Francesco I Gonzaga (1366–1407)
* Francis I, Duke of Brittany (1414–1450), reigned 1442–1450
* Francis I of France (1494–1547), King of France, reigned 1515–1547
* Francis I, Duke of Saxe-Lau ...
in 1529. In 1594, Henry IV installed it in the Jardin d'Estang at Fontainebleau
Fontainebleau (; ) is a commune in the metropolitan area of Paris, France. It is located south-southeast of the centre of Paris. Fontainebleau is a sub-prefecture of the Seine-et-Marne department, and it is the seat of the ''arrondissement ...
where it disappeared in 1713 when the Jardin d'Estange was destroyed.
:d. Vasari makes no mention of this episode and Paolo Giovio
Paolo Giovio (also spelled ''Paulo Jovio''; Latin: ''Paulus Jovius''; 19 April 1483 – 11 December 1552) was an Italian physician, historian, biographer, and prelate.
Early life
Little is known about Giovio's youth. He was a native of Com ...
's ''Life of Michelangelo'' indicates that Michelangelo tried to pass the statue off as an antique himself.
References
Sources
*
*
*
*
*
* Gardner, Helen; Fred S. Kleiner, Christin J. Mamiya, ''Gardner's Art through the Ages''. Thomson Wadsworth, (2004) .
* Hirst, Michael and Jill Dunkerton. (1994) ''The Young Michelangelo: The Artist in Rome 1496–1501''. London: National Gallery Publications,
*
* Paoletti, John T. and Radke, Gary M., (2005) ''Art in Renaissance Italy'', Laurence King,
*
Further reading
*
*
* Barenboim, Peter (with Shiyan, Sergey). ''Michelangelo in the Medici Chapel: Genius in Details'' (in English & Russian), LOOM, Moscow, 2011.
Barenboim, Peter (with Heath, Arthur). ''Michelangelo’s Moment: The British Museum Madonna''
LOOM, Moscow, 2018.
Barenboim, Peter (with Heath, Arthur). ''500 years of the New Sacristy: Michelangelo in the Medici Chapel''
LOOM, Moscow, 2019.
* Carden, Robert W. (1913). ''Michelangelo: A Record of His Life as Told in His Own Letters and Papers''. Constable and Company Ltd., London; reprinted by Legare Street Press, 2021.
* Einem, Herbert von (1973). ''Michelangelo''. Trans. Ronald Taylor. London: Methuen.
*
* Gilbert, Creighton (1994). ''Michelangelo: On and Off the Sistine Ceiling''. New York: George Braziller.
* Hartt, Frederick (1987). ''David by the Hand of Michelangelo—the Original Model Discovered'', Abbeville,
* Hibbard, Howard (1974). ''Michelangelo''. New York: Harper & Row.
*
* Pietrangeli, Carlo, et al. (1994). ''The Sistine Chapel: A Glorious Restoration''. New York: Harry N. Abrams
*
*
*
*
* Seymour, Charles, Jr. (1972). ''Michelangelo: The Sistine Chapel Ceiling''. New York: W.W. Norton.
*
* Summers, David (1981). ''Michelangelo and the Language of Art''. Princeton University Press.
* Symonds, John Addington (1893). ''The Life of Michelangelo Buonarroti'', John C. Nimmo; reprinted by The Modern Library
The Modern Library is an American book publishing imprint and formerly the parent company of Random House. Founded in 1917 by Albert Boni and Horace Liveright as an imprint of their publishing company Boni & Liveright, Modern Library became an ...
, Random House, 1927.
* Tolnay, Charles de. (1964). ''The Art and Thought of Michelangelo''. 5 vols. New York: Pantheon Books.
*
* Wallace, William E. (2019). ''Michelangelo, God's Architect: The Story of His Final Years and Greatest Masterpiece''. Princeton University Press,
* Wilde, Johannes (1978). ''Michelangelo: Six Lectures''. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
External links
The Digital Michelangelo Project
*
*
*
*
The BP Special Exhibition Michelangelo Drawings – closer to the master
How to decide if a drawing is by Michelangelo.
"Michelangelo: The Man and the Myth"
{{Authority control (arts)
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Michelangelo Buonarroti
Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (; 6 March 1475 – 18 February 1564), known as Michelangelo (), was an Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet of the High Renaissance. Born in the Republic of Florence, his work was insp ...
Sculptors from Tuscany
Sonneteers