Michelangelo (1475-1564), was one of the most famous artists in history. He was mainly interested in creating large marble statues, but his endless creative energy also led him to become a great painter and architect as well as a poet. He was also one of the most famous people of his time and a great leader of the Italian Renaissance, a period marked by a rebirth of interest in the art and learning of ancient Greece and Rome. Michelangelo is best known for his treatment of the human body in painting and sculpture. His figures convey a sense of grandeur and power, and arouse strong emotions in many spectators.

In size, strength, and emotional intensity, these figures go beyond real people. Michelangelo’s figures are both animated and restrained, and seem to possess great spiritual energy. His work presses toward the extremes of heroism and tragedy but is never false or artificial.

Michelangelo was born on March 6, 1475. His full name was Michelangelo di Lodovico Buonarroti Simoni (his baptismal name). He  was born in the small town of Caprese near Arezzo in Florentine territory, Italy.  From the beginning, sensing he had an inordinately special child, Lodovico, a podestá or provincial administrator (mayor) at the time, named his son Michelangelo, spelled Michelangiolo in Florence.  Although the full form of his name was Michelagniolo di Lodovico Buonarroti-Simoni, Giorgio Vasari called him Michelangnolo.

After Michelangelo’s birth Lodovico didn’t remain in Caprese because his term in office had expired. According to Hibbard, “less than a month later the family moved back to a high, dank house [in the Via de’ Bentccordi] near the church of Santa Croce in Florence”. In this section of Italy one finds
stone in abundance, also stonecutters and sculptors. Hartt writes that the wife of a local stonecutter, a woman named Settignano, took the baby Michelangelo.Michelangelo did not return to his family until he was two or three years old. By the time he was six years old his mother was dead.
Eventually, Lodovico found himself in such difficult financial circumstances
he had to place his sons with the Wool and Silk Guilds. It was thus that at age
seven Michelangelo went to grammar school, where he came under the tutelage of Francesco da Urbino. Scholars agree Michelangelo did not like school, although when considering his high level of literacy as an adult one concludes that he had probably more school than we know.

When he was 12 years old, Michelangelo became an apprentice to the most popular painter in Florence, Domenico Ghirlandajo. Before his apprenticeship was completed, Michelangelo stopped painting and began working as a sculptor under the guidance of a pupil of the sculptor Donatello. Michelangelo attracted the support of the ruler of Florence, Lorenzo de’ Medici, who invited the young artist to stay at his palace.   From  Ghirlandajo Michelangelo learned the rudimentary elements of drawing. At the time, the artists in Ghirlandaio’s workshop worked on the fresco cycle in the choir of Santa Maria Novella in Florence. A young student working in
Ghirlandaio’s studio copied some draped figures of women from his work in
pen and ink.  According to Michelangelo’s biographer Vasari, “Michelangelo took
what he had drawn and, using a thicker pen, he went over the contours of one
of the figures and brought it to perfection”. Most scholars agree, however, that from Ghirlandaio he probably
learned not only drawing, but also the fresco technique, which involves painting
on wet or dry plaster.

Michelangelo’s earliest surviving sculpture is a small unfinished relief of a battle, done when he was about 16. This work shows the obvious influence of ancient Roman marble sculpture belonging to Lorenzo. But the relief also shows the force and movement that became typical of Michelangelo’s style.  After this, around 1489 or 1490, a new opportunity came his way:
a new school located in the Medici gardens, established by the ruler of Florence, Lorenzo, called Lorenzo il Magnifico.

During the fifteenth century Lorenzo housed a treasure of the rarest, most expensive
antiques of the day. He kept them in his garden on the Piazza di San Marco and employed Italian sculptor Giovanni di Bertoldo (1420?–1491) to
maintain the collection. Lorenzo also kept the artist employed as a teacher. Bartoldo is known for ”making”  a new type of sculpture—a small-scale bronze, intended, like the small illustration known as the cabinet picture, for the private collection. Bertoldo also taught Pietro Torrigiano (1472–1528). At the time Torrigiano learned to model figures in clay, and it is thought Michelangelo learned the technique also. Curiously, though they may have worked together, they never became friends, and in fact, over time they became enemies. Lorenzo became Michelangelo’s patron. Thus, when only 15 years old, Michelangelo
copied an old and wrinkled antique faun’s head in marble that Lorenzo kept
in his garden. (A faun has the body of a man, but the horns, pointed ears, tail,
and hind legs of a goat.)

Michelangelo also copied the frescoes of the Florentine proto-Renaissance
painter Giotto (1266/7–1337) with impressive exactness, and around 1489 he carved the famous Madonna of the Steps, revealing his earliest known draped figures.

When he was 16, to further his education, Michelangelo studied under
Lorenzo’s tutor, Angelo Poliziano or Politian (1454–1494), Italian poet in Latin
and Italian, philologist, and humanist. Still working with stone, Michelangelo
carved a piece of marble given to him earlier by Lorenzo, a scene he named The Battle of Hercules with the Centaurs. He stopped working on it just before Lorenzo died in 1492 and, typically, left it unfinished.

But Michelangelo’s life changed dramatically after 1492, after the death of his
patron Lorenzo. Then 17 years old, he returned home to live with his father. At this time he began work on a huge block of marble and from it carved an eightfoot statue of Hercules.  The Hercules remained on display in the Palazzo Strozzi for several years until the Florentines sent it to France as a gift to King Francis, where it found its way to Versailles and then disappeared.

A few weeks before the ruling Medici left Florence, after the tide of feeling
began to turn more strongly against them and they were expelled temporarily, Michelangelo left for Bologna.  After a year had passed,
Michelangelo returned to Florence, where he carved for Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco
de’Medici a marble statue of the youthful St. John, now lost.
Then, Cardinal San Giorgio called Michelangelo to Rome to work for him.
He was in Rome June 25, 1496, and remained with the cardinal 10 or 11
months; he stayed in Rome for the next five years.

While in Rome Michelangelo carved his first large-scale marble sculpture, the
Bacchus (1496–1498), an over-life-size pagan rather than Christian work that
was so well executed it rivaled antique statuary. Jacopo Galli purchased the Bacchus, and it remains in Florence at the Museo Nazionale del Bargello.
Also, at this time in Rome Michelangelo began work for the Cardinal Jean de
Villiers de la Groslaye on the most famous of all Michelangelo’s marble Pietàs. Carved between 1498 and 1499, it was destined for the basilica of St. Peter’s. Michelangelo carved a version of the traditional Pieta subject, the dead Christ in the lap of the mourning Virgin Mary. Both figures are larger than life-sized.
Completed before the artist reached his twenty-fifth birthday, it is the only work he signed.

After this Michelangelo returned to Florence, where he carved the marble

David between 1501 and 1504. David, the artist’s most famous sculpture, became the symbol of Florence. Yet, even while working on the David, he was commissioned in 1502 to cast a bronze David, which was sent to France and has since been lost. Also, after carving several other figures, he was commissioned to paint a mural, the Battle of Cascina for the Sala dei Cinquecento of the Palazzo Vecchio. Michelangelo’s David portrays the Israelite king partly as an ideal man, partly as an adolescent youth. The young figure faces his foe tensely but confidently, with a bold scowl and his sling at the ready. The Florentines had planned to put the statue high in the air on the Cathedral of Florence. But they decided instead to place this great work of art at eye level in their main public square, and it became a symbol of the new republic that had replaced Medici rule.

Battle of Cascina Its location was to be across from Leonardo’s Battle of Anghiari, but neither artist finished the commission beyond drawing a cartoon or preliminary drawing. Michelangelo drew a series of figures, both clothed and nude in a vast array of poses, that became a prelude to his next commission, the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican.

From about 1505 on, Michelangelo devoted nearly all his time to large projects. In his enthusiasm for creating grand and powerful works of art, he accepted projects that were far too large for him to complete. The first one was a tomb ordered by Pope Julius II that was to include 40 marble statues. The artist accepted the job in 1505 and ended the project unsuccessfully 40 years later. While in Rome at this time he examined many of the newly discovered classical
statues, such as the Greek marble from Titus’s palace in Rome, the early first
century A.D. Laocoön.

The Sistine Chapel-  Julius II was a patron of the arts with a sweeping imagination equal to Michelangelo’s.  Julius gave Michelangelo a more practical commission, painting the vault (arched ceiling) of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican. This project became Michelangelo’s most famous work. The Sistine Chapel is where major papal ceremonies take place. The chapel was built by Pope Sixtus IV, Julius II’s uncle, and was decorated during the 1480′s with paintings by some of the greatest artists of the time, including Sandro Botticelli, Luca Signorelli, and Perugino. All of its decoration together shows the history of the world according to the Bible. The earlier painters showed the lives of Moses and Jesus Christ and the sequence of the popes. Michelangelo’s contribution to the project was the grandest of all. View this Picture Picture David and Goliath On the lowest part of the vault of the Sistine Chapel as well as on the upper walls, over the arched windows, Michelangelo painted The Ancestors of Christ. In the corners, he portrayed stories of the salvation of the Jewish people, such as David and Goliath. The highest part of the vault was originally painted blue with gold stars, symbolizing heaven. Michelangelo changed this treatment. Above the Ancestors, he painted great thrones in which are seated prophets believed to have foretold the coming of a Messiah (savior). Male prophets of the Old Testament or Hebrew Bible alternate with sibyls, female prophets of ancient times. The series of prophets ends above the high altar of the chapel with Jonah, who survived after three days inside a whale, an event that foretells Christ’s death and Resurrection. For examples of these paintings, see the pictures with the following articles in the print version of The World Book Encyclopedia: Isaiah, Book of; Jeremiah, Book of. Above the thrones of the prophets are nude figures, called ignudi, who hold bronze-colored disks with stories taken mostly from the Books of Kings. Michelangelo covered the very top of the vault with nine scenes from the Book of Genesis, including three scenes portraying the creation of the universe, three showing the creation of Adam and Eve and their fall from grace, and three illustrating the story of Noah. Michelangelo, forced against his own wishes by Julius to undertake the huge task, began the ceiling in 1508 and completed it in 1512. He used a technique called fresco, applying the paint to damp, freshly laid plaster and working quickly before the plaster dried. He began at the entrance and worked toward the altar, starting with the scenes from Noah’s life and working backward in time to the beginning of creation. Michelangelo painted the ceiling from a scaffolding, standing up, not lying on his back as historians once thought. During this period, he wrote a satirical poem in which he complained of a stiff neck and of paint dripping into his eyes. In the margin of the page, he drew a caricature of himself reaching up to paint. At first, Michelangelo approached the task in a style resembling his earlier works. But he soon gained confidence and developed new ways of showing tension and power. The last frescoes he painted, which include The Separation of Light from Darkness and the portrait of Jonah, are much richer and more active compositions. The figures in these last paintings are also larger and freer in execution. When the frescoes of the Sistine ceiling were cleaned in the 1980′s, restorers found that Michelangelo had painted in much brighter colors than had been realized. The brilliance of the colors makes the paintings visible from a great distance. The top of the vault is about 70 feet (21 meters) above the floor.

After he had finished the ceiling, Michelangelo resumed work on the pope’s tomb. He carved three famous figures that resemble the painted prophets and decorative figures on the Sistine ceiling. These figures are Moses and two prisoners, sometimes called The Heroic Captive and The Dying Captive, completed by 1516. The figure of Moses, who seems to be filled with terrible anger, was later used as the centerpiece of the tomb. This statue was finally placed in the Church of St. Peter in Chains in Rome. The figures of the two captives may symbolize lands conquered by Julius II or arts and sciences left without support after his death. One of them struggles violently against his bonds as the other languishes and seems to submit to defeat. Print “The tomb of Julius II” subsection The Medici Chapel.

Michelangelo spent the years from 1515 to 1534 working mainly for the Medici family, who had regained control of Florence. He designed and carved tombs for two Medici princes and also designed the Medici Chapel, in which the tombs are placed. Michelangelo left the chapel incomplete when he moved away from Florence in 1534. View this Picture Picture Tomb of Giuliano de’ Medici by Michelangelo Along with the statues of the two young princes, the tombs include the figures of Night and Day on one tomb and Evening and Dawn on the other. The figures recline on curving lids, conveying a sense of fate or individual tragedy. They make a great impact on spectators as a significant observation about human destiny. Some read the parts of the monument from floor to ceiling as a symbol of the rising of the soul after its release from the body. Others see the four statues on the curved lids as a sign of the endless movement of time, in which life is only an incident.

Michelangelo also designed the architecture of the Medici Chapel. He planned the walls like a carved relief, with projections and hollows and long, narrow shapes to give an elongated effect. This approach, resembling carved architecture, is carried further in the entrance hall and staircase to the Laurentian library in Florence, which he designed between 1524 and 1559. Turning to architecture, in the 1520s Michelangelo designed the Bibliotheca
Laurenziana or the Laurentian Library and the entrance hall for it. Rather than use the classical language of architecture articulated by the Greeks, he designed his own columns, entablatures, and pediments and produced the most unusual vestibule the world had ever seen.
In addition, Michelangelo also took the commission for the Medici tombs located in the New Sacristy of San Lorenzo. For Giuliano de’ Medici, duke of
Nemours, and Lorenzo de’ Medici, duke of Urbino, Michelangelo designed two large wall tombs facing each other. Work on the two tombs continued with assistants even after the artist returned to Rome in 1534.

In 1536, in Rome, Michelangelo began painting the largest fresco of the Renaissance-The Last Judgment for the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel, destroying some of his earlier Ancestors of Christ to do so. In a single scene covering the entire wall, Michelangelo showed the resurrection and judgment of humanity. At the top of The Last Judgment are wingless angels with the cross upon which Christ died. Beneath them, the blessed gather in heaven. In the center, Christ raises His right arm. The Virgin Mary, who intercedes for souls, sits beside Him. In response to Christ’s commanding gesture, the world below comes to life. On the left, tombs open and the dead—some skeletons, others in grave shrouds—rise toward heaven. To the right, the damned tumble or are dragged into hell. Hell is filled with demons and is ruled over by Minos, the mythical king of Crete who imprisoned a monster known as the Minotaur. A large snake coils around Minos. The depiction of hell is based on The Divine Comedy (1321), a famous poem by the Florentine writer Dante Alighieri. Michelangelo is supposed to have known the lengthy poem by heart. The Last Judgment caused great controversy, and Michelangelo was very disturbed by the reaction to his work. Some critics objected that Christ was shown inappropriately. The fresco was bitterly criticized for its display of nudity. In fact, draperies were later added to many of the figures by one of Michelangelo’s followers. In the early 1990′s, when the fresco was cleaned and repaired, restorers removed some of the draperies. Print “The Last Judgment” subsection View this Picture Picture The Florentine Pieta by Michelangelo Later years.

The small amount of sculpture in Michelangelo’s later years includes works to complete old commissions and two unfinished Pieta groups. He created both Pietas for his own satisfaction and not for a patron. One of the Pietas is now in the Cathedral of Florence and is called the Florentine Pieta (1555). It was meant for Michelangelo’s own tomb. It is designed as a massive pyramid, with Christ’s body slumping down on the ground. In the other Pieta, known as the Rondanini Pieta (1564), now in Milan, the marble limbs are reduced to a ghostlike thinness. The bodies seem to lack substance, while the material of the stone is emphasized by the hacking chisel marks left on the unfinished surface. Because of this technique, many modern sculptors, including Henry Moore, admire this work above all others Michelangelo produced. Michelangelo devoted much time after 1546 to architecture and poetry. In 1546, Pope Paul III appointed him supervising architect of St. Peter’s Basilica, one of Julius II’s unfinished projects. Michelangelo worked on the church without salary. By the time he died on Feb. 18, 1564, construction had reached the lower part of the dome, which was finished by another architect. After 1538, he planned a square for the Civic Center of Rome and the buildings facing it. The square is shaped like a trapezoid, a four-sided figure with two parallel sides of unequal length. The square and the oval design at its center symbolize Rome as the center of the world.

Michelangelo’s last paintings, finished when he was 75 years old, were frescoes in the Pauline Chapel in the Vatican. They show The Conversion of Saint Paul (1545) and The Crucifixion of Saint Peter (1550). Although they are large, complicated designs like the Sistine Chapel paintings, they are graver, more still and inward. Michelangelo became deeply religious in his last years, during which he made devotional drawings comparable to the Rondanini Pieta. He also wrote some of his finest poetry during his old age.

REFERENCE:

Summers, David. “Michelangelo.” World Book Advanced. World Book, 2009.

Artist of the Renaissance, Artist of an Era, Irene Earls, GREENWOOD PRESS 2004.

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