Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni is an Italian artist who was born March 6, 1475 and died February 18, 1564. He was a well-known sculptor, painter, architect, and poet during the Italian Renaissance. Michelangelo had one of the largest influences on the development of Western art. Michelangelo was born into a family of bankers in Florence, but his father failed to maintain the bank’s financial status and held occasional government positions. At age six, Michelangelo’s mother died from a long-term illness. After this, Michelangelo’s father sent him to live with a stonecutter and his wife and family in Settigano. Since Michelangelo did not show interest in school, his father agreed to send him to study under famous artist, Ghirlandaio, for two years. During this time, Michelangelo discovered that sculpting was his area of expertise. After this discovery, Michelangelo’s father sent him to a school for sculptors founded by Lorenzo de Medici, where he significantly excelled and painted his first great accomplishment, The Battle of the Centaurs. Upon leaving Florence, Michelangelo was founded by Aldovrandi, who asked Michelangelo to stay with him. During his time with him, Michelangelo sculpted an angel with a candlestick for the tomb of St. Dominic, which made other artists very jealous. Michelangelo returned to Rome and carved a cupid, which was sold to a cardinal by his friend. The cardinal was impressed and asked him to come to Rome. In Rome, Michelangelo worked on commission for Cardinal Raffaele Riario and built an over-life-size statue of the Roman wine god, Bacchus. Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni is a well-known painter, sculptor, architect, and poet who shaped Western Art during the Italian Renaissance.
Michelangelo’s father agreed to let him study under a famous artist, Domenico Ghirlandaio, for two years, at age thirteen. After just one year, Michelangelo’s father persuaded Ghurlandaio to pay his apprentice as an artist, which was unheard of at the time. In 1489, Lorenzo de’ Medici asked Ghirlandaio for his two best students, Michelangelo was one of them. From 1490 to 1492, Michelangelo attended the Humanist Academy, founded by the Medici family. Here, Michelangelo began to study sculpture under Bertolo di Giovanni. While here, Michelangelo did not make any friends. Michelangelo felt awkward around other boys his age because he felt he was ugly, and because of this, other boys thought he was rude, though they did admire his work. While studying here, Michelangelo’s promise and his art were very large influences on philosophers and writers. While at the academy, Michelangelo sculpted the reliefs Madonna of the Steps (1490-1492), and The Battle of Centaurs (1491-1492).
In April of 1492, Lorenzo de Medici died, which brought a change to Michelangelo’s path. Michelangelo left the academy and returned to his father’s home. While at home, he carved a wooden crucifix in 1493 to the Florentine church of Santo Sprio. The church had then permitted him to study anatomy on the corpses of the church’s hospital. In January of 1494, Lorenzo’s heir, Piero de Medici wanted to commission a snow statue due to many heavy snow storms. Michelangelo had re-entered the court of the Medici. During this time, the Medici’s were expelled from Florence when Savanarola rose, and Michelangelo left the city and went to Bologna where he was commissioned to finish the carving of The Shrine of St. Dominic. Due to the political situation re-calming and the city no longer under threat from the French, Michelangelo returned to Florence. This time around, the government was not as welcoming and received no commissions. During the 6 months he was back in Florence, he returned to the employment of the Medici and sculpted St. John the Baptist, and Sleeping Cupid. Michelangelo sculpted St. John the Baptist for Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de Medici, who asked Michelangelo to ‘fix it so that it looked as if it had been buried’. Medici wanted to send it to Rome to pass it off as an ancient work to sell it for much more. This piece was sold to Cardinal Raffaele Riario, who later discovered this piece was a fraud. He was not even angry because of how impressed by the quality of the sculpture he was, he even invited Michelangelo to Rome. The success Michelangelo had of selling the sculpture is what drove Michelangelo to accept the invitation of going to Rome.
Michelangelo arrived in Rome in 1496. Within just two weeks, he began working on a commission for Cardinal Raffaele Riario. He was sculpting an over-size statue of the Roman wine god, Bacchus. The cardinal rejected the piece, and it was taken over by banker Jacopo Galli, which he would use for his garden. While in Rome, Michelangelo lived near the church of Santa Maria di Loreto where he fell in love with Vittoria Colonna. His house was demolished in 1874, and all architectural elements were destroyed in 1930. Today, you can visit a modern reconstruction of Michelangelo’s house on the Gianicolo hill.
Michelangelo once again returned to Florence in 1499. In Florence, Savanarola was losing power and Pier Soderini was rising. Michelangelo was asked by the consuls of the Guild of Wool to complete a project started 40 years ago by Agostino di Duccio that was never finished. The project was a statue portraying David as a symbol of Florentine freedom. This statue was going to be placed in the Piazza della Signoria in front of the Palazzo Vecchio. Michelangelo completed this work in 1504, and it turned out to be his most famous work, The Statue of David. This sculpture established his prominence as a sculptor with fine attention to detail and imagination. During this time in Florence, he painted the Holy Family, St. John, and Madonna and Child.
In 1505, Michelangelo was asked to return to Rome by the newly elected Pope Julius II, where he was commissioned to build the Pope’s tomb. Unfortunately, Michelangelo had to stop working on the tomb due to other works he had promised. Due to constant interruptions, the tomb took 40 years to complete. Though complete, the tomb is not living up to Michelangelo’s standards of satisfaction. It is currently located in the Church of S. Pietro in Vincoli in Rome. During this time, Michelangelo took the commission to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. This painting took approximately four years to complete entirely (1508-1512). Bramante and Raphael convicted the Pope to commission Michelangelo in a medium that Michelanglo was not used to. This was done by Raphael so Michelangelo would suffer and Raphael could continue to thrive while he was at the peak of his career. The original plan for the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel was the 12 Apostles against a starry sky, but he decided to go with a different and more complex theme which represented creation. The new theme is part of a scheme within the chapel that shadows the doctrine of the Catholic Church. The end result contained over 300 figures and contained nine episodes from the Book of Genesis which were 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 statue of Humanity as represented by Noah and his family.