Michelangelo Biography

Michelangelo Biography

Biography of Michelangelo

Learn about the biography of Michelangelo, Italian artist, sculptor, and painter of the High Renaissance art movement

Who is Michelangelo ?

A High Renaissance Italian sculptor, painter, architect, and poet by the name of Michelangelo, he lived from 6 March 1475 to 18 February 1564. His Republic of Florence-born art was influenced by classical antiquity and had a long-lasting impact on Western art. Together with his adversary and more senior contemporary, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo is considered the prototypical Renaissance man due to his inventiveness and expertise in a variety of artistic fields. One of the best-documented painters of the 16th century is Michelangelo, given the enormous amount of correspondence, sketches, and memoirs that have survived. Contemporary biographers praised him as the most accomplished artist of his day.

Biography of Michelangelo

Where did Michelangelo grow up?

On March 6, 1475, Michelangelo Buonarotti was born in Caprese, Italy. When his family relocated to Florence, where Michelangelo was raised, he was still a little child. When he was only six years old, his mother passed away.

The young Michelangelo had the ideal upbringing in Florence during the Italian Renaissance. All he ever wanted to do was paint and be an artist, even as a little child. Although Michelangelo’s father, a local government official, encouraged him to attend school, he had little desire to do so. Domenico Ghirlandaio, a painter and artist, hired him as an apprentice when he was just thirteen years old.

Training to be an Artist

As Michelangelo worked for Ghirlandaio, his abilities were clear. He was transferred to the influential Medici family in about a year to continue his apprenticeship with the sculptor Bertoldo di Geovanni. Working alongside some of the greatest thinkers and artists of his day was a privilege for Michelangelo.

The Lady of the Steps, the Battle of the Centaurs, and Bacchus are just a few of the sculptures that Michelangelo created over the following several years.

The Pieta

Michelangelo relocated to Rome in 1496. A year later, he was given a contract to create the Pieta, a sculpture. It would go on to become a Renaissance classic. Jesus is seen in the sculpture reclining on his mother Mary’s lap following his crucifixion. Currently, this sculpture is located at the Vatican’s St. Peter’s Basilica. The artwork is the only one that Michelangelo signed.

The Pieta

Statue of David

As a great artist, Michelangelo’s reputation started to spread. When he got back to Florence, he got another order to make a huge statue of David. He needed a few years to complete the enormous statue. He started with an extremely tall and slender marble. Many believed he couldn’t accomplish anything with it. He didn’t let anyone see it till he was completed working in secrecy.

Michelangelo’s David

Michelangelo’s most well-known artwork is David. The tallest statue created since Ancient Rome, it stands thirteen feet tall. Several art experts believe it to be a nearly perfect sculpture. The statue is now housed in Florence, Italy’s Academy of Fine Arts.

Sistine Chapel

Michelangelo visited Rome once more in 1505. In 1508, the Pope gave him the go-ahead to paint the Sistine Chapel’s ceiling. While he saw himself as a sculptor, Michelangelo consented to paint the Sistine Chapel for the Pope. To complete the artwork, he toiled for four years while painting upside-down on a scaffold. The artwork was enormous (141 feet long by 43 feet wide). Almost 300 people were there, and it featured nine scenes from the Bible down its middle.

A part of the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel

The Creation of Adam is the most well-known of all the scenes. Adam’s hand and God’s hand are almost touching in the middle of the picture. Together with the Mona Lisa, this is one of the most often reproduced scenes in all of art and one of the most well-known works of art ever created.

Architect

A great individual with various talents, Michelangelo was. He was also a practicing architect. He was a true “Renaissance Man” in this regard, comparable to Leonardo da Vinci. Michelangelo worked on the Laurentian Library, the Medici Chapel, and even the city of Florence’s fortifications. St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome was arguably his most well-known creation.

Facts about Michelangelo

• Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni was his full name.
• In a dispute when he was seventeen, fellow artist Pietro Torrigiano struck him in the nose. This may be seen in the Michelangelo images we have, his nose was severely fractured.
• He believed that Rafael, a painter, had persuaded the Pope to commission him to paint the Sistine Chapel out of resentment for his sculptures.
• He also created the well-known Sistine Chapel masterpiece The Last Judgment.
• No two of the 300 individuals depicted on the Sistine Chapel’s ceiling are alike.
• He also penned almost 300 poems as a poet.

Michelangelo Biography

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